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There is a quote from Michelangelo that reads: “Every block of stone has a statue inside, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” – In the same way, teachers shape the learners who sit in front of them in the classroom.
Here, at the end of the 2025 school year, we say goodbye to Ms Mareli de Klerk, our Visual Arts teacher, who has been part of our school community since 27 January 2021.
From the first day, Ms. de Klerk filled the art wing of Ben Viljoen with colour, character and creativity. Her classroom was a studio of inspiration - a space where imagination, technique and emotion converged to create masterpieces. She succeeded in helping each learner paint their own “canvas of self-discovery”, adding a little more self-confidence and pride with each brushstroke.
Under her leadership, our theatre groups reached new heights, proving that art does not only live on paper, but also in movement, voice and expression. She even wrote a Grade 8 concert and revue. Her involvement as coach of the interhigh cheerleaders further demonstrated how she could give form to creativity in various ways - whether through music, movement or visual images.
Ms de Klerk reminded us that art is not just something you do, but something you are - a way of looking at the world with open eyes and a soft heart. She taught not only our learners, but everyone that even on the dullest day there can be colour, and that a mistake on a work of art can simply be the beginning of something new.
Thank you, Ms de Klerk, for helping us to see the world through the eyes of an artist. Your influence lies like a soft layer of paint over the walls of Ben Viljoen - permanent, meaningful and beautiful. May the next chapter be filled with bright colours, new canvases and endless inspiration.