Hawthorn born, and persistent resident Ian Bentley is president elect despite being relatively new to the club. Well done. However there is a past Rotarian ethos there. At the outset of his member behind the badge address he noted that this was the third occasion on which he has told his story and failing to retrieve those past two scripts warned of a fresh one. The warning was unnecessary as the audience got a wonderful polished account of Ian's drivers and his experiences in, and thoughts of educational practice now and in the past few decades.
Ian's outlined a career as an educator but more than that. The "teacher" element was only a small part of his work, at various times he has eagerly embraced those extra circular and administrative roles which many teachers avoid. Roles ranging from athletic master, sports coach to science teachers association leader are typical of the many related areas in which he has been very heavily involved.
In reliving his career Ian touched on a philosophical note about how key moments (akin to the "Sliding Door" concept) determined his path. First as a bio-science graduate a choice was made to pursue a career in education rather than post graduate research. Then a simple prompt from one of his colleagues at his first college appointment lead him to apply for a science master role at Carey Grammar.
Ian spent 22 years at Carey in various roles , including an exchange year in the Cotswolds and gave us an insight into his personal development(learning as he put it) as a person and educator. Ian's enthusiasm for education came through. His connection with students did too---photos of past students triggered stories of their subsequent achievements . One got the impression that there were very few that Ian could not personally recall.
Always keen to face new challenges, there was a senior role at Kingswood College for six years. Retirement after that was short-lived. A casual part time Science Education lectureship became permanent and even now similar activity at Deakin University is followed.
Ian and Jane (that's them above after 44 years married) have three adult children all successfully pursuing careers one in finance, one in law and the other is psychology. There was an amusing contrast by Ian of the athletic iron-man son with the more sedate daughters. Ian openly (tactfully?) attributed a lot of his happiness, and past achievements to support from Jane. One feels that the club will be in good presidential hands next year with the Bentley team.