About Us
THE STORY BEGINS.....
In 2004 after 20 years of teaching Karin Petzer decided to leave Waterkloof Primary School where she was the Deputy Principal. This by the way is not something she ever thought she would consider. Karin and Cynthia Stephenson her business partner had something more to offer. The two teachers took the plunge. Many asked the dreaded question, what will you do? Teachers don’t leave teaching, what if they fail?
The experience Karin gained in developing herself in the Technology learning area came in handy when cluster meetings were run. Karin shared her experiences gained at workshops and conferences held in schools all over Gauteng and even the TASA national Conference in Durban. She assisted as a Technology facilitator for District D4 when the subject was initiated into schools and worked with Eersterus teachers for the Collaboration Fund implemented by the Department of Education.
She was however not going to leave education, in fact she and her colleague Cynthia Stephenson who had taught for 32 years decided it was time to take on the challenge and do more for teachers in other schools. Cynthia took on the financial part of the company and started her education again.
Products were developed in the first three years and training workshops also commenced. In 2006, Karin trained teachers on behalf of TUT and assisted Swati Marambana with her teachers in D1. From this group, we now have two teachers Mackson Moele and Thabo Serake from Soshanguve serving on the Pretoria Branch of the Technology Association.
The education districts heard about the workshops being conducted and soon Karin and her team were working in Soshanguve, Katlehong, Soweto, Randfontein, Hammanskraal and Tembisa. From Technology workshops, Assessment workshops to Social Sciences workshops, the team worked hard to make life easier for the teacher in the class. ClasSmart produced quality experiences for teachers.
The ClasSmart team has worked hard to empower teachers in their various fields. They provide opportunities to many teachers who excel in their schools. Classmart prepares them as facilitators to share their knowledge and expertise with other teachers from all types of schools. Cynthia Stephenson, Lindiwe Ndaba, Stephanie van Heerden and Dineo Morabe are four facilitators that are outstanding examples of dedicated and passionate teachers prepared to go the extra mile to share their good practice.
Cynthia retired as Director at the end of 2009 and will be sorely missed by the company. She worked tirelessly to make a difference in education.
ClasSmart now has a new office manager, Mrs Mavis Molefe. You will hear her friendly voice when you call our offices.
ClasSmart works with many subcontracted teachers, editors, translators and facilitators. Our teams at any workshop or involved in any project is of very high caliber. We are always proud of the excellent product we deliver.
You will not find a training team more dedicated than ours. We are committed and very strict about quality. We enjoy the time we spend with the teachers and this is reflected in the positive feedback forms we receive.