Narnia and pirate days - leading the way for young scientists
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When secondary school teacher Emma Beukema spends time in the great outdoors, walking her dog or exploring Mount Barker’s Laratinga Wetlands, it’s more than just physical exercise. As Science Learning area leader at St Mary’s College, Emma thinks deeply about the benefits of time spent in nature to our mental health and wellbeing.
For her efforts, Emma was the recipient of the Experienced Teacher (Secondary) award.
Emma has never considered teaching as just a job. For her, it’s a calling woven from family legacy, scientific curiosity, and a deep belief that critical thinking can change young lives.
Since joining St Mary’s College in 2014, her commitment to empowering young women to see themselves as capable, confident participants in STEM fields has been unwavering. She strengthened the Years 7 – 10 Science program and established the college’s weekly STEM Club, which has become a dynamic and highly participatory space where students collaborate, experiment, and explore emerging technologies.
Emma learnt from the best. Her mother was a primary school teacher and as a child, she’d watch her mum prepare for themed days in her classroom. “I’d watch her prepare for a Narnia day or a pirate day – things like that. Those childhood memories planted a seed. Teaching was always on the horizon, but so was science.
Emma began her career as a researcher in medical science, working in a cancer research lab, and for a time it looked as though life in the lab would win out. Supervising university students on placement changed all that.
“I wrote the practical manual and did all the practical demonstrating for the subject,” she recalls. “I really loved teaching people about science.”
The rest is history.
“When I finished my Masters, I enrolled in the graduate diploma in education and went straight back to university for a year. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. At no point have I ever regretted changing from medical research into teaching. It’s just the best job in the world.”
Over the past 15 years Emma has taught a range of subjects from junior science to senior Biology and Psychology.
Today, the mother of two sons aged 13 and nine, Emma teaches mainly Year 11 and 12 students.
Her work sits at the intersection of rigorous science and real-world relevance. Recently, she introduced a Year 10 Psychology elective that helps students discover unexpected pathways.
“I’ve had quite a few students who’ve said that elective made them go, ‘This is my thing, this is what I want to do,’” she says.
Seeing them flourish in psychology and pursue it after school is “really rewarding”.
Her ambition for her students goes beyond subject choices and test scores. She is acutely aware of the information overload they live with – and the stakes when science is distorted.
In her biology classes, infectious disease becomes more than curriculum content; it’s a toolkit for life.
“We’ve been learning about how diseases spread, how you can minimise their spread, how vaccination works,” she explains. “I say, ‘Even if you never do biology again after this semester, this is really important for you to understand for the rest of your life. It helps you stay healthy, look after the health of other people, and make informed decisions’.”
Emma wants her students to be able to look at a sensational headline or a social media post and quietly dismantle it.
“There’s a lot of fake stuff out there – fear-mongering for example,” she says. “Everyone needs those cognitive skills. I could have the best lesson plan in the world, but if the students aren’t interested, it’s not going to be the best lesson.”
Despite recent recognition for her work – an award she describes as “very humbling”, Emma is quick to deflect the spotlight. St Mary’s is a Science Active School and encourages our students to forge a path in science and discovery through its rich STEM programs.
“I’m very blessed to be in a school with a beautiful student cohort. Our science faculty is made of a group of fabulous people, and we’ve got supportive leadership. I couldn’t do what I do and be as successful at it without them. I feel like they should all be sharing it with me,” she says.
“It’s not an individual journey – there are people who have walked this journey with me.”
