“MY parents always said I was their miracle child which made me feel special. It also made me feel as if I had a purpose to fulfil,” says Nicole Frank.
Frank was born at five-and-a-half months without the full development of vital organs such as her lungs.
Her recovery was slow to the point that she was baptised in hospital.
Doctors didn’t think she would survive, but she defied the odds. Fast-forward 30 years and she is as relentless as ever. Currently the head of department (HoD) of the intermediate and senior phase at Constantia Primary School, Frank said: “My parents supported all my wild ideas, from dancing to Britney Spears at every single talent competition to every choir performance throughout my high school career. They always bought me a prize, because I was a ‘winner’ to them. This encouraged the drive in me to want to support kids through all their talents and dreams.”
The Grassy Park resident teaches the majority of subjects offered in primary school to Grade 5, 6 and 7 pupils. Some of them include social science and natural science but her speciality is English. She said being a essential worker has caused her a bit of anxiety.
“This pandemic has put strain on so many people, including pupils. Although I might feel anxious, it is my responsibility to give my pupils the time to express themselves and to find a bit of ‘normal’ in these very abnormal circumstances. I enjoy imparting my excitement for a subject onto the pupils. When you as a teacher enjoy what you are teaching, the pupils feel that and they replicate that. As a school, we have to abide by the safety regulations stipulated by the Western Cape Education Department,” she said.
Frank added education was important and a journey of discovery.
“My passion for teaching arises from the need to want to be the change. It is not impossible to believe that you can change a child’s beliefs just by believing in them. Academics is not the be all and end all of it. Children need more. They crave more, more love, more attention, more understanding and in my career as a teacher I always placed that above all. Education opens minds and doors to allow children to reach their full potential,” she added.
Principal of Constantia Primary School Alastair Adams said Frank was an exceptional teacher.
“I am immensely proud of Nicole and admire her passion and commitment to exert her best efforts in all tasks and daily deliverables. She is a great asset to Constantia Primary and the wider education fraternity as a whole,” he said.
Her father Noel Elliott said: “Nicole is the most generous, caring, committed, driven and supportive young woman that I know. She just wants to make people’s lives easier, even if she hardly knows them. She is our survivor and was a fighter from the start.”