Some of the BEAQ Fellows who were able to be at the 2010 conference were presented with framed certificates

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Click here for the eligibility criteria for Fellow and Associate Fellow

Click here for the full list of BEAQ Fellows

Proud recipients of the Award of Fellow at the 2009 Conference

Nearly 12 months after 29 people were presented at the 2009 Conference with the Award of Fellow we asked, "What is life like as a Fellow?":

Ruth Grieve

What a pleasant surprise to receive the framed Certificate of Recognition as a Fellow member of the BEAQ on my return from a wonderful safari trip to Africa. Thank you for the acknowledgement of my service and leadership in the field of business education.
It means a lot to me as I had just signed my Notice to Cease Employment form to take effect from 2010.

Business education has provided a functional, stimulating and challenging platform for creating a curriculum to equip students
for lifelong learning.

Barbara Haydon

I was very touched and quite overwhelmed to receive the award of Fellow of BEAQ. I told my family and friends with great pride and display the award with my academic degrees in my study.  As it was bestowed on me by my peers I hold it in high regard.

I have used the letters after my name once when I was writing a letter of complaint! I am very honoured to have it and a smile crosses my face every time I see it.

Rhonda Rasmussen

Well, has anything changed? No I am still as busy as ever. However, I have my framed membership up on my wall and feel very proud every time I look at it. I love Business teaching and feel we are the closest link to the real world and can impart invaluable information to the girls as they venture into the world of work.

Jan Robinson

I have very fond memories of the years I served on BEAQ and BEA – of the friends and colleagues and of the determination we had to try to get business education recognised in the way it ought to be in the school curriculum!
 
I am CEO of an organisation called Worklinks Inc – a not-for-profit community organisation with programmes for unemployed people wanting to enter the workforce. So many of the challenges secondary business teachers face in relation to VET we also encounter. I am still very passionate about the value of business education and the opportunities it can provide to secondary students and others in the broader community.
 
Through running Cert IV courses and working with a large number of schools, I am fortunate that I am still very much connected to teachers, schools and young people.
 
I was very humbled to receive the award of Fellow. If I could confer similar awards, I would confer one on all teachers, particularly business education teachers, for your commitment to young people and the great work you do!

Loren Serafin-Huey

The Award of Fellow was something so unexpected. I don't believe that I have done or do anything special or noteworthy. I do what is important to me, ie teach with passion, work with others in my role as Head of Faculty and others in my field, do my best and spread the message of how important it is to study Business.
 

Patricia Simmons

It was lovely to be recognised by BEAQ for the many years of involvement in and voluntary contribution to the cause of business education in Queensland and beyond.  While my areas of responsibility at work have shifted considerably over the past few years, with a much greater focus on the whole broad area of Vocational Education and Training, I am still involved in matters around business and enterprise education, and continue to be the Department’s representative on the relevant QSA Committee for this subject area.  (Business and Economics Learning Area Reference Committee LARC replaced the Subject Advisory Committee SAC.)  We are going through some very interesting times at the moment with the gradual development of the national curriculum and QSA’s continuing work on reviewing the full range of senior syllabuses, so it is more important than ever that we continue to promote our curriculum area and the valuable contributions made by the range of subjects in the business suite. I am very grateful for my association with BEAQ over many years, which has allowed me to build up a considerable network of wonderfully dedicated educators and many close friends and colleagues to whom I can turn for support and advice, and in return be of assistance wherever possible across a range of issues relating to our profession. Being a BEAQ Fellow gives credibility to my ability to represent business education in a number of arenas which I continue to do as opportunities arise.

Angela Toppin

Twelve months has ‘evaporated’ since I was presented with this very prestigious Award. After receiving the Award, I ‘vowed’ that I would try to support BEAQ in Far North Queensland. To this end I have encouraged and supported Bethany Dutton from Cairns State High School tn organising a Professional Development Day for Business Teachers on 12 July 2010. The program looks fantastic and I am sure there will be a great attendance. It is hoped to resurrect a BEAQ Sub-Branch in Far North Queensland; this will be a very valuable support for teachers and Business Education in our part of the world. In between all this my daughter married in December, and now I am going to be a Grandmother in September. This is a very exciting period of my life and I am looking forward to being part of the ‘joy’ of the birth of my first grandchild!
On the school front, our school looks like a building site with a new Science Centre and Trade Centre being constructed. Plus, many other enhancements to classrooms and facilities.