A Fermanagh teacher who brought a sense of adventure to hundreds of students in a teaching career of more than 30 years will continue to seek adventure in her retirement.

Art teacher Julie Stephenson (65) retired from Enniskillen Royal Grammar School (ERGS) in June.

A popular member of the Art Department, she instilled a love of the outdoors in students who undertook the challenge of the Joint Initiative Scheme – Duke of Edinburgh Award and Gaisce, The President’s Award.

Ms. Stephenson prides herself in a sense of curiosity, and remarked: “If you’re not curious, you will not go too far!

“Through the teaching of art, you're also passing on a kind of curiosity about what people do in different times and places and why they did it.”

She will miss the school community with fellow staff as well as seeing progression in children as they get to grips with the task at hand: “[I will miss] seeing that progression and seeing different aspects of people's personalities.

“A child might be bored stupid in art, but they absolutely love canoeing!

“It [the outdoors] gives you a much broader perspective on the children that you're working with, and likewise, it gives them a broader perspective of the adults that are working with them.”

Ms. Stephenson did not begin her working life as a teacher. Instead, she worked as a visiting lecturer and a visiting artist across the north of England when she graduated from Sheffield Polytechnic.

She describes a ‘lightbulb moment’ where she realised through her work, that she was teaching anyway.

“I have always worked with people and some kind of education, and one day the lightbulb dawned on me that I was actually teaching anyway, no matter what!”

Ms. Stephenson pursued teaching, working for some time as a temporary teacher in Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar School before she qualified as a teacher and began her full-time teaching career in Dungannon Royal School, before returning to her alma mater, the Collegiate, for a full-time post, where she remained.

Her mother was a teacher, so she joked that she had “plenty of work shadowing and work experience".

Reflecting on the Joint Initiative award, she said: “Children get an incredible sense of achievement and satisfaction, and for some of them [it is] doing something that they'll never do again.”

It was a natural extracurricular activity for the Belcoo woman who had been involved with the Irish Water Safety group in Blacklion under the guidance of Kathleen Richey, and had spent time caving from the age of 16, with a membership of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, and the Speleological Union of Ireland.

Ms. Stephenson paid tribute to her fellow staff colleagues within the school, but paid a particular tribute to Robin Ferguson, who played a vital role for many students who undertook the Joint Initiative scheme.

As for her retirement plans, Ms. Stephenson summed it up with one word: “Adventure.”

She continued: “Life is an adventure, whether it's art based, or whether it's climbing with my husband, or you know, whatever offers itself, seeing friends, spending time with people.”

Paying tribute to Ms. Stephenson’s longstanding contribution to education, both in ERGS and in the Collegiate Grammar School, ERGS principal Miss Armstrong referred to Ms. Stephenson’s independence of thought and spirit, creativity of mind, and quirky sense of humour which have all resonated with many students over the past 30 years.

She said: “Julie is well-known to many generations of students not just as an art teacher, but also as a leader of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme within the school.

“A highly-skilled hillwalker, she has passed on her deep-rooted love of nature and her sense of adventure to many cohorts of Gold Award winners, some of whom now share their skills alongside her with our current cohorts of students.”