The article below was written about Morah Debra Karro several years ago when she was a Kindy teacher. She is now a prized Prep teacher teaching alongside Morah Janine Cohen, but her ethos of going above and beyond when teaching Carmel students is as strong and committed as ever.

Meet Morah Debra, one of ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP’s incredible Kindy Teachers. Morah Debra has been a teacher for nine years and has taught at Carmel that whole time. She makes sure to wake up smiling every day and looks for the good in everything and everyone around her; she is well known for her love of glitter, which she says makes her and the people around her feel happy. She exercises most mornings which helps her start the day energised, and she cares about Planet Earth, doing her best to recycle, re-use and reduce. Prior to teaching, Morah Debra was a behavioural therapist working at ISADD (Intervention Services for Autism and Developmental Delay), and before that she was a hairdresser specialising in curly hair!

Books are a massive part of her life and she always has a book by her side. She honours all authors and reads a wide variety of genres. Morah Debra endeavours to read a whole book every Shabbas and, in the school holidays, she reads between 10 and 20 books! Her all-time favourite is ‘Oh the places you’ll Go’ by Dr Seuss;Ìýa classic for any age group that inspires her every single time she reads it.

Reflecting on what she thinks makes Carmel Kindy so special, Morah Debra thinks that it’s an environment that supports each child in ‘being, becoming and belonging’. Kindy invites growth and development in self-confidence, resilience, effective communication, consideration, respect, independence, growth mindset, deep thinking, creativity and on and on the list grows. She feels that the Kindy teaching team helps each student to leave Kindy at the end of year having achieved their personal best.

Morah Debra adores teaching Kindy at Carmel for hundreds of reasons, and these are just a few. Teaching Kindy means she sees the world through the eyes of a child, which often sees her becoming the student and her students becoming her teacher. The result of this shift in roles helps her learn new and wonderful ways of simply ‘being’. The days of the week song that is sung every day in the Kindy classroom talks about every day being special and new, and that is the delicious part of Morah Debra’s job – each day is so special and brings new wonders. Morah Debra loves that her days are all about facilitating each child on their individual learning journeys. She is continually reflecting on both current and timeless research to be the best educator she can be. This allows her to stay true to the commitment for life-long learning that she made with herself when she qualified as a teacher. She feels grateful to work at a school that uses the framework of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – The Leader in Me. She herself continually reflects on these Habits and grapples with ways in which she can become more effective across all areas of her life.

Morah Debra feels privileged that she works with amazing people and educators who she deeply admires and is continually learning from. Another honour is getting to know the beautiful Kindy families who allow her the privilege of caring for their most precious treasures. She loves it when past students come back to visit the classroom for a hug…or even for her to pull their loose teeth!