“I very much enjoyed my speech and drama lessons with Jo Jones throughout high school. She encouraged me to be confident and excel at each given task. She was a delightful teacher who was very passionate and motivating. Speech lessons were a very important part of my development, both as a co-curricular activity and also as a stepping stone to becoming a more confident and eloquent person later in life. I learnt about mime, poetry, monologues and reading aloud – speech and drama taught me to think outside of the box and step outside of my comfort zone. I certainly believe I have achieved so much in my life after school because of the skills I developed through my speech lessons with Jo Jones. I excelled in my HSC, particularly in my drama course, and furthermore I achieved well in my arts and law degree at university which required a lot of pubic speaking. Today as a graduate lawyer, I am a confident and passionate speaker because of the skills developed in my speech lessons.”

- Gabriella Pomare

“During my primary school and high school years, I was fortunate enough to have Jo Jones as my Speech and Drama teacher. In my lessons each week I gained valuable skills which I am now able to use in my career and in my personal life. Through Jo’s passion and enthusiasm for teaching, I found myself becoming more enthusiastic about communication and public speaking as a medium which essentially drove me towards my career in Public Relations. Through my work today in the Public Relations industry, I am regularly required to speak in front of large crowds of people. The confidence that I possess in these situations can be attributed entirely to the skills I learnt during my time learning from Jo. From my ability to project my voice, control my breathing and even my ability to structure a presentation, all of these skills have proved invaluable in my life. The eisteddfods and exams I participated in and completed during this time are some of my fondest memories of my childhood. The time that Jo would put in to preparing me for each eisteddfod and exam demonstrated her dedication to her students and her desire to see her students succeed. I am genuinely grateful for the time I spent in my Speech and Drama lessons and my words could not do justice to the amazing, dedicated and passionate teacher that is Jo Jones.”

- Rosanna Mauceri

“As a shy little 5 year old from a non-english speaking background, Jo Jones was the very first person I had to help me understand the English language. Through her patience, devotion and motivation, I learnt to not only excel in the English language (to the point where I did 4 units English for my HSC and topped it in my school) but also become a confident public speaker and performer. Each week was a challenge towards mastering a new skill- whether it was in miming, breathing techniques, tongue twisters, poetry, reading, duets, phonetics, impromptus or preparations for eisteddfods and exams. The confidence and passion she instilled in me, encouraged me to participate and perform in many school plays, musicals and Shakespeare competitions. I still have the fondest memories whenever I look at all the awards and medals that I have won from the eisteddfods and the many years of A+ in exams that I have received under Jo’s guidance. Jo Jones was not only a very dedicated and capable teacher but also a true mentor throughout my entire childhood. It was actually one of the saddest moment when I knew I had to move to start my Medicine degree and was no longer going to be under her guidance for Speech and Drama. Although it’s not something that most would associate with the Medical profession; the confidence and the interpersonal skills that I have obtained is not only something that I deeply treasure but use almost daily in my communication with both my paediatric and older patients.  Thank you Jo Jones!”

- Dr Stella Tang