From the Editor:
Hello!
We are definitely heading for Spring with warmer days and a whole lot less layers of clothing being worn to keep out the winter chill!
From emails received over the past few weeks, it would seem as if most of you missed the link on information on how to submit your story. There also seems to be some confusion as to why we want your story ... simply - everyone who attended HS van der Walt High School was unique in their own special way and we would like to share your experience. Yes, there is a possibility of a book being published on the history of the school AND the students who attended and your stories is what made Dassieland so special. Yes, you are allowed to remain anonymous and for more information click HERE to find information on how to SUBMIT YOUR STORY.
The website was also created for those who have not joined Facebook, so if you do have contact with an old Dassie, do send them the link so that they too can keep in touch with their old classmates.
A final request, if you do have a gathering of old Dassies, whether formal or informal, do send photographs of the people who attended, together with their names to hsvanderwalthighschool@gmail.com for publication in this Newsletter. I do visit the Facebook page periodically and are likely to miss announcements and activities unless someone tells me about it!
Enjoy!
-o0o-
LOOKING BACK : MR PIET KILIAN
When did you arrive at HS van der Walt High School and what was your original position?
I
started as a teacher at HS in January 1973, after finishing my
studies in November 1972. My original plan was to become an
accountant, but my friend and I decided to stay another year and
study something easy. The plan was to have more fun and less hard
work! The Government approved the change and my loan became a Teacher
Bursary.
I
had to apply for three posts and they will place you where they see
fit. I only applied for HS as it was the only post advertised in
Afrikaans. The other posts were all bilingual pots in double medium
schools. (My English at the time was not very good!). Needless to
say, but I was appointed as a teacher at HS.
What were your first impressions of the school and the students?
On
arrival (30 minutes late for the first staff meeting of the year!), I
learnt that there was a mistake in the advert and HS was in fact also
a double medium school. With the help and encouragement of Willem
Swart and Paul van Schalkwyk (teachers), I decided to make the best
of the job I had to do.
What was the greatest challenge at the school?
To
adapt to being a teacher and not the accountant I wanted to be; learn
to speak English properly; to work with girls (young ladies).
Could you relate a few of your fondest memories from the school/students?
How
the pupils helped me with my English and never laughed in my presence
when I made mistakes; the commitment of the pupils to other
activities I was responsible for; the fact that I learned a lot from
the pupils.
 |
| Class of 1975 |
Were you aware of the school closing and how did you feel about it?
I
heard at a meeting of Boland College (worked there at the time) that
the school has closed. I
have no idea what happened to the pupils. I now know that the school
closed as part of Government
Policy. Although I was working in the Strand at the time, I was also
not invited to the
closing function.
Describe your life now and what are your interests?
After
38 years in education (schools and colleges) I retired in 2010. Got
married again in December
2013 (after 24 years being single!) and is now living in Pretoria.
(Hopefully going back
to the sea one day ….). I am writing a book about my life, because
there are so many memories!.
It will not be published. It is simply meant for my children and
grandchildren.Now
I also have a wife that takes up a lot of my time!
Mr Kilian, now 64 years old, has 3 children and 3 grandchildren and lives in Pretoria with his wife Sheryll. He retired in 2010 and looks forward to visiting Ireland again. In 2012 he was asked to give a speech at the HS van der Walt High School reunion held at the school (now Boland College) during April. For those who did not attend the reunion, we proudly publish the speech that he gave because it reflects how he as a teacher views his time he spent there:
HS
VAN DER WALT REUNION APRIL 2012
I
am writing a book on my life, not for general publication, just for
my children and grandchildren. They know me as a father and
grandfather, but very little about other aspects of my life. It is
my way of sharing certain key moments of my life with them. Tonight
I would like to share a few of those key moments with you.
WHY
DID I BECOME A TEACHER?
When
I finished school, teaching was not on my list of the five things I
wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be an accountant, because
Mathematics and Accountancy were my best and most loved subjects.
My
best friend at university and I decided to do an extra year because
we had so much fun. A teaching diploma seemed to be the easiest of
all available courses. The government extended my loan. We had our
fun, but also qualified as teachers.
I
could not repay my government loan, so I started as a teacher at HS
in January 1973. I only applied for HS because I assumed it was an
Afrikaans medium school. (It was the only advertise-ment that was
only in Afrikaans and my English was not very good as I am
Afrikaans-speaking.)
I
arrived an hour late on my first day, because the principal, Mr.
Barnard, gave me the wrong time. I also learnt that it was indeed a
double medium school! No turning back now!! The pupils and I made an
agreement: I will teach them the subject matter and they will help
me with my English. With
Paul van Schalkwyk and Willem Swart, I had 4 wonderful years at HS
van der Walt.
STRAND
COLLEGE
I
started as the Principal at Strand College in 1982. It was my job to
build it into something worthwhile. There were only 2 offices, 1
classroom (kiddies class on a Friday morning) and a studio with 2
pottery classes per week.
During
my time there I never refused any student and never handed any
student over to lawyers or collection agencies for class fees not
paid. My staff never questioned my actions, but one day one person
asked me the million dollar question: “Why are you so generous?”
My answer was simply: “I don’t know, I guess it is simply who I
am.”
In
May 1990 I enrolled a student, 16 years old, in and out of schools
since the age of 13 because of drugs. I just could not say no to the
mother pleading with me to help her son. As always, my staff did not
question my judgment.
During
August 1990, I was leaving a supermarket when that mother and her
daughter (I thought to be 9 or 10 years old) approached me. The
mother could not thank me enough for helping her son. I was in a
hurry to pick up my children, so I tried to cut the conversation
short. (Diplomatically, of course!)
I
was stunned into silence for the first time in my life when that
little girl said:
“Mr.
Kilian, you know what? For the first time in 3 years I have my
brother back.”
(A
statement I will never forget in my whole life).
For
the first time in my life I could not respond to something that was
said. I left and sat in my car for 5 or 10 minutes, totally stunned.
The only thing on my mind was that little girl’s words.
I
could not understand why those words bothered me that much. When we
enrolled the new students in January 1991, it dawned on me: I am
giving some students a chance in life, help them making something
with their lives.
I
then informed my staff about this “revelation.” My staff simply
replied: “Now we know why you are so generous, now we understand
you and why you do the things you do.”
Just
for the record:
- In 2006 (the last time we had contact) he was still drug free and employed in the same job.
- We moved into our new buildings on 14 August 1995. We got the land for free, transfer costs were returned to us, the government supplied some money, the rest (R800 000) was financed with a bank overdraft (not legal at the time, but we got away with it).
- In 2001 we became part of Boland College, with all debts and overdraft paid off.
- In 2006 the capacity was doubled with government money and 2 weeks ago temporary classrooms were erected to cater for all the new students.
WHY
IS HS VAN DER WALT HIGH SCHOOL SO IMPORTANT TO ME?
While
my staff said they understood me, I did not understand why I am so
generous, because I never made a conscious decision to be generous.
I just could not understand. And then one day it all became clear:
I
grew up on a small farm in Gauteng, which meant that my social and
life skills did not develop as much as it should have. I had farm
duties, school and sport on Saturdays. My friends in town had a
social life after school. I did not.
And
for the first time I understood a little bit about myself: I
acquired my skills while I was at HS van der Walt. You girls taught
me all the things I could not learn during my childhood: Some social
skills, life skills and even helped me with my English. HS was meant
to give you a second chance in life (for whatever reason).
I
applied all the things I learnt while at HS in the rest of my life.
That is why I gave those students a second chance, why I could never
refuse a student a chance for a better future.
I
am who I am because of what I learnt during my time at HS van der Walt High School. I may
have been the teacher, but on a different level you taught me about
life.
Now
you know why HS van der Walt High chool is so important to me. I will always be part of HS.
My time at HS made me the person I am today. I had a successful
career, and I have to thank the girls of HS for that. They (not even
knowing it) taught me to be generous, to help people.
I
AM A DASSIE, AND WILL ALWAYS BE ONE! (But
I will never wear a dress or a skirt: It will make me look fat!!)
It
is the custom to give applause when a speaker is finished with his /
her speech. Any applause you give now, is not for me, but for all
the girls of HS. I am grateful for what I learnt from them, and they
deserve all the credit for what I achieved in life.
Thank
you.
-o0o-
DASSIES GAUTENG "BRING 'n BRAAI" : SATURDAY 2nd AUGUST 2014
 |
| Front: Cathy de Jesus, Salenta Roos, Agnes Rehbock Scheepers, Ansie Groenewald, Sheryll (Theron) Kilian, Cher Manning, Martie Viljoen Knoetze, Piet Kilian, Bev James, Maryna Coetzee Ontong, Susan Marais Hummel and Rina Bredenhann Coetzee. |
-o0o-
LOOKING BACK : SHERYLL (THERON) KILIAN
 |
| Sheryll (Theron) Killian 1968 -1970 Hostel 4 |
My
story is a very long, but in short, I was raised by my granny in
Lichtenburg since I was 8 months old. My life was not a happy one,
being sent from pillar to post. Being rejected from as far as I can
remember, my life was a roller coaster. Up to when I left HS, I was
in 8 schools. At the end of Std 8 [grade 10 now] I was taken out of
school by my father. I worked in Johannesburg for a couple of
months. My dad lived in Johannesburg at the time and he was
transferred to Cape Town. My mom stayed in Cape Town and I then
moved to Cape Town to go and live with her. It did not work out
between my mother and I and I moved in with a friend and her mother.
Until today, I am not
sure who contacted the welfare, but I was put under a welfare officer
who eventually took me to the place of safety in Wynberg.
After I left HS, I
married the teacher in Pretoria with whom I have a son, called Ben
who is now 41 and married with 3 children. My ex-husband verbally and
physically abused me. I wanted to get divorced but he would not if I
did not give him full custody of my son. He went so far as to move
to Port Shepstone so that I could not see my son. It has been a very
hard and difficult road to live without my son. We only got to know
one another after he finished school and started his studies in
Pretoria. Ben is my eldest son who is married and has 3 children, a
girl and 2 boys.
After my divorce I was
untamable, not wanting to get hurt again, I would rather hurt the
one’s in my life than being hurt again. I then met my youngest
son’s father. He did not believe in working and was up to all
kinds of unpleasant things. When I fell pregnant, he did not want to
accept that it was his child. After a while he proposed to marry me,
but that did not materialize as other women and his freedom was more
important that his son and I. At that time I was living in
Johannesburg and decided to move back to Pretoria where I raised my
son on my own.
Reshaad is my youngest
son and he is engaged and has a little boy. Both of my sons live in
and around Pretoria. My children and grandchildren are very precious
to me and I try and spend as much time with them as I can.
After ± 12 years I met
someone at a previous job, which was an emotional rollercoaster, too
hurtful to even think or talk about. It was 13 years of problems,
court cases, and once again rejection. He was divorced from his
wife, but she would not let go. He literally left her 13 times to be
with me and then left me 13 times again to go back to her. In this
time my youngest son started high school and got involved with the
wrong friends. Things became so bad that I had to ask the welfare
for guidance and help. He did not want to stay with me anymore and
went to live with a foster father – this was not a good move on the
part of my son. Another long story…
December 2008 I went on
holiday to PE where my cousin got married and it was during that
holiday that the lord spoke into my heart. I then decided to end the
more off than on relationship, but it took me 2 years to finally call
it a day. My partner suffered from total renal failure, and I
decided to let go of him as he was very ill and I felt that it was
better for him to be with his family. It has been a very long and
hard journey for me but by the Grace of God, I managed to pull myself
together.
I joined my church
called House of My Glory in 2011, and I was baptized on 06 November
2011. Since I joined the House, I have started with Bible School, I
am now in year 3 as well as a cell group. Once again, I feel truly
blessed and privileged to be part of such an awesome group of people
but most of all, to be part of the Body of Christ where I am learning
and growing every day.
Last year, on 14
February 2013, I attended a Dassie mini reunion which took place at
Susan Hummel’s house. All the girls’ asked why I am on my own
and that they should start looking for a husband for me. Piet Kilian
happen to also be at the reunion as he was in Gauteng visiting his
brother. Maryna asked what about Piet…. I said no man, he’s not
my cup of tea and on top of that, he was a teacher…….. We’ll
she convinced me to ask him for coffee. We met the following
Saturday morning, and what was meant as a cup of coffee turned out to
be a whole day event. During this time I mentioned that I had a
brother in Cape Town who I wanted to visit. Piet then said that if I
wanted to I could come and stay with him………………NO STRINGS
ATTACHED….. These words were said to me more times than I can
remember. I went back that afternoon, feeling that this is a person
that I could trust and just maybe I should consider going to Cape
Town.
After much thought and
deliberation, I told Piet that I decided to visit and plans fell into
place. Instead of staying for 10 days, I extended my leave twice and
ended up spending 18 days with Mr Kilian. During my visit, he
mentioned that he thought of taking me to Ireland…. Well, that was
a first for me. On my return, we talked on the phone endlessly, I
still don’t know what his telephone account was as it was sometimes
up to an hour to two hours on the phone!!! Then we started talking
about getting engaged and married………………heavens, things
were moving fast.
I had the best holiday
of my entire life, I was treated like I have never been treated
before! Nothing was too much or too costly for Piet Kilian to treat
me to an unforgettable holiday!
 |
| Sheryll & Piet Kilian (July 2014) |
Describe your time at
the school, both the highs and lows, giving as much detail as you can
remember
During our many
conversations he mentioned that he would like to visit……….
Later on I asked him if he won’t move to Pretoria. Mr Kilian
replied that he was waiting for the invitation. On 2nd
July 2013, Mr Piet Kilian arrived in Pretoria and the relationship
took off like a jet.
God willing, we were
married on 14 December 2014……………….. And rest is pure
history!
I am still working as a
Personal Assistant for a motivational speaker, Dr John Tibane. Dr
Tibane is a medical doctor by profession but in 1997 he realized that
he wanted to heal people with “words” as he has a very special
gift with words. He has written 9 books, gives motivational talks,
do team building and strategic planning sessions, etc and often
appears on Noleen 3Talk. I have been with the company for 10½ years
and is Personal Assistant to both Dr Tibane and his wife. I thrive
on being busy, the more I have to do, the more motivated I am. My
children call me a busy body as I cannot sit still as I’m always on
the go! Once again, I have our Heavenly Father to thank that I am
still able to work and that I can still do things for myself and
others.
Why were you sent to
HS van der Walt High School?
I think between my mom
and dad [they were divorced when I was 8 months old] they agreed to
contact the welfare. Thinking about it now, I think it could’ve
been my mom. She did mention that I was taken out of school to soon.
I was put under a welfare officer as neither of my parents wanted to
accept responsibility for me and I was eventually taken to a place of
safety in Wynberg. There I was tested by Mr Kool as to what kind of
person I was. I worked in the principal’s house as well as that of
the male secretary. They both had huge flats adjacent to the place
of safety. Mr Kool trusted me to work in their flats as it required
of me to sometimes clean outside the flats and clean the windows.
There I was also the eldest of all the kids, I was 17 at the time and
the second eldest was a girl of 12. This girl one day decided to try
and run away, she was caught and put into a cell. So one day I
thought, let me give it a try not really thinking that I would go
through with it, I began to run to the gate. Mr Kool stood at the
entrance of the hostel, with his hands on his sides, looking at me.
When I looked back, he shouted at me, saying Sheryll Theron, what the
……………… are you trying to do ….. Come back and do your
work and I was surprised not being punished or reprimanded for my
foolishness.
 |
| Esther Rossouw & Sheryll Theron |
Most of my memories are
very vague. However, I do remember being the eldest in the school at
the time. I enjoyed taking part in athletics, the choir and singing
sessions we had. Viola Gerardi and I took part in the eisteddfod as
a duet but also performed on my own. I do not remember what year,
but the HS won the choir competition in the then Western Province.
Can you provide details
of the happiest and saddest time at the school?
The saddest part at the
school was that due to not being streetwise at the time, I felt like
I was very unpopular. In 1970 I was chosen as leader of hostel 4,
needless to say I did not get much support from the girls. I was
also chosen by the teachers to act as prefect on the train during the
December holidays, and once again I was shunned by the girls for not
being a party person. I started seeing a teacher from Pretoria [we
were at school together in Lichtenburg] during my stay at HS and I
received privileges that had never been granted in the history of the
school which also made me very unpopular. Mrs Geldenhuys Head mistress of hostel 4 and Mr Widicomb at the time helped me to
sneak civvies out of school so that I could change while spending
time with my then teacher boyfriend. I was even allowed to go to
church one Sunday evening in civvies.
Looking back now, what
is the one thing that you learned back then that helped you the most
in your adult life?
Is does not pay to want
to be one of the in-crowd as you then needed to change your standards
and beliefs, God blessed me with an abundance of perseverance and
tenacity and if it weren’t for those qualities, I certainly who not
have survived at HS.
Was there someone in
particular who influenced your time at the school - either
positively or negatively?
On the positive side; I
am very grateful for Mr Widicomb’s trust in me. In the second year
at HS, I was not yet a leader, I was one night fetched by Mr Widicomb
and other teachers to go and look for some of the girls that had run
away. It would have been the golden opportunity for me to also run
away as most of the time that night, I was on my own looking for the
girls.
The English teacher, Mrs
Lois Bahlman Tennant also treated me with the greatest respect and I
in return, did the same. This had a huge impact on my life and
attitude and needless to say, English was my best subject.
On the negative side; I
injured my knee practicing long jumping for the first time in my
life. My knee was damaged badly and I had an operation. The surgeon
who operated on my knee never repaired the torn ligaments and I still
have problems with this injury.
Overall, HS taught me to
fend for myself, to work hard and be the best person I could be at
the time. I feel blessed and privileged that I had the opportunity
to finish my schooling. HS made me the assertive person I have
become and I realized then that I needed to accept others for who and
what they are. It taught me self-discipline and self-worth but
nothing was ever accomplished on my own but through the Blessings and
the Grace of our Heavenly Father.
-o0o-
Till next time.....
