Linda Scott’s Inspiring Lifetime Of Learning A 48 Year Legacy in Education

With the sound of the final school bell on the afternoon of Friday 13 December 2024, a 48-year chapter will close for Mrs Linda Scott, a treasured educator and mentor who has touched the lives of the entire Burdekin region.

After completing her senior education, Linda was faced with the daunting question of, “what’s next?”.

Having taken an academic pathway throughout her schooling rather than a commercial one, Linda was left to think outside the employment box, leading her to pursue her passion for learning and become a primary school teacher.

Linda was successfully awarded a scholarship to attend the Townsville Teacher College (James Cook University) from 1972 to 1975, and upon graduation, she began her career at Mareeba State School where she taught from 1976 to 1978 before she was transferred to East Ayr State School. Over the course of twenty years, Linda taught a range of classes from year three to seven before becoming the Deputy Principal in 2000.

“The biggest lesson I have learnt is the importance of being flexible with an open mind and a desire to keep learning,” shared Linda.

“Being a lifelong learner is so important to ensure that you are exposed to new initiatives, new knowledge and learnings so that students in your care are given every opportunity to reach their full potential.”

With almost half a century of memories, Linda reminisces on a comedic Brisbane based Expo excursion mishap that saw her and her teaching partner lead a line of students in red jumpers (a supervision tactic) through pavilions and street performances to then earn the title of Mr and Mrs Red and the Red Family for the trip’s duration.

“We were at Expo for a couple of days, and became well known and would often hear, “here they are again – Mr and Mrs Red and the Red Family” – it was quite amusing,” explained Linda.

Above all else, Linda cherishes seeing how far her students have come from the beginning to the end of each school year, and the bond she shares with so many families, adding how much she enjoys speaking with past students to hear what they have gotten up to post primary school, and into adulthood.

With a well-earned retirement on the horizon, Linda’s daughter Miss Heather Scott will continue carrying her legacy as an educator herself.

“I don’t know if Mum was an inspiration in my teaching journey, maybe more of an influence - but like anything, if you are around something long enough, you are going to pick things up,” shared Heather.

Having been immersed in the world of teaching her whole life, Heather entered the profession aware of how rewarding, and how challenging the role of an educator can be, and welcomes this new, and unchartered era, explaining her family doesn’t know a life without her mum’s job in it.

“Watching Mum, I have learnt a few things that shaped some of what I do, but there is one thing that Mum and I are firmly aligned on, and that is why we do what we do,” added Heather.

“Everything we do within the profession has the students’ best interest in mind first and for most and not just the students at our respective schools but any student we have met along the way. 

“My journey thus far has been very different to that of my mother’s but like me and 100’s of educators far and wide, we have all gained a little from Mum, and long after she retires, she will continue to walk the halls through the practices and knowledge she has instilled in so many people in education.”

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The 1981 East Ayr State School Staff photo.
Linda graduated from the Townsville Teacher College in 1975.
Like mother like daughter, both Heather and Linda Scott have led successful careers in teaching.
Heather with her parents, Laura and Reno Pacchiardi on graduation day.
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