A well-respected and long-standing principal who has served at multiple schools on the Sunshine Coast has announced his retirement.
Greg Myers, of Good Samaritan Catholic College at Bli Bli, will be retiring at the end of the year after serving for 36 years as a principal at schools across Queensland.
He said he felt privileged to have had such a distinguished career and made an impact on so many young learners.
“I started out as a teacher back in the mid-’80s and I suppose I always wanted to do a little bit more than just teaching,” he said.
“My inspiration to become a principal was just really wanting to be more involved in schools, and the lives of young people.”
After four years as a classroom teacher in Brisbane, Mr Myers started as a principal at St Mary’s Primary School, Charleville, from 1989 to 1991. From there he has served at St Mary’s Primary School, Goondiwindi (1992-1993); St Mary’s Primary School, Maryborough (1994-1997); St Vincent’s Primary School, Clear Island Waters (1998-2005); St Dympna’s Primary School, Aspley (2006- 2011); Southern Cross Catholic College, Redcliffe (2012-2015); Unity College, Caloundra West (2016-2017) and foundation principal at Good Samaritan Catholic College, Bli Bli (2018-2024).
“I’ve been out in far western Queensland, I’ve been to the Gold Coast, I’ve been in the Wide Bay, I’ve experienced big schools in the middle of Brisbane – at one stage, the second biggest Catholic school in the state – I’ve started a new school on the Sunshine Coast. I’ve had a really fulfilling career,” Mr Myers said.
He has been the principal at Good Samaritan since it opened in 2019 and considers it one of the greatest achievements of his career.
“Here in Bli Bli, starting a school from nothing really, from an empty paddock to today where we’ve got nearly 1200 kids in six years, is really my proudest achievement,” Mr Myers said.
Want more free local news? Follow Sunshine Coast News on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up for our FREE daily news email.
The school will have its first Year 12 cohort graduate later this year.
“I think it’ll be quite emotional. I said to people here and quite publicly that I wouldn’t retire until our first Year 12s finished,” Mr Myers said.
“We started with 52 Year 7s in 2019 and we enrolled almost all of those kids when there wasn’t a building on the site.
“Those parents took an absolute risk with the school, and with me to be blunt. I think if those parents hadn’t had that trust, our school wouldn’t be growing the way it is now.”
Mr Myers said the thing he’d miss the most in retirement was the daily interactions with students.
“The most important part of our role are those daily interactions with young people – talking to them, making sure they are achieving to the best of their ability, but they are also safe, happy and enjoying school,” Mr Myers said.
“We have so much compliance and administrative work nowadays. I think sometimes people in leadership can become distracted by all of that and forget about the most important people: those young people in schools.”
Mr Myers said the new principal at Bli Bli was likely to be announced later this year.
“The position is advertised through Brisbane Catholic Education nationally and it’ll be later this month or the beginning of next month (before interviews). That appointment will probably be made public early in Term 4 I’d imagine,” he said.
So what’s next for Mr Myers?
“We’re going to take some time to relax and travel – we’ll make sure we get over and visit our son in New York and spend some time with our daughter (in Sydney). I’ve still got a few bucket list items that I want to see,” he said.
He said he would also mentor other principals.
“I’ll end up doing something hopefully with giving some advice to young principals, and some advice around some new schools into the future,” Mr Myers said.
Brisbane Catholic Education head of school progress and performance learning services Derek Maclean paid tribute to Mr Myers’ contribution to education.
“He is well regarded within the Brisbane Catholic Education community for his integrity and wisdom, and will be well remembered for his contributions to the system and to the many school and college communities he has served,” Mr Maclean said.
“We are grateful for Greg’s commitment to the vocation of teaching and leadership in Catholic education in two Queensland dioceses across four decades, and thank him for this dedication and service.
“I am sure you will join me in congratulating him on his enduring career and offer Greg and Helen our very best wishes and every blessing.”
Kelsey Reid is a journalism intern with Sunshine Coast News.
Like stories about Sunshine Coast people doing great things? Help us deliver more by registering for our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your email at the bottom of this article.
