{"id":17529,"date":"2025-07-24T15:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T05:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/?post_type=article&p=17529"},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:13:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T01:13:51","slug":"staff-story-2","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/article\/staff-story-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising star Calista Camarda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Award-winning graduate Calista Camarda brings academic brilliance to the classroom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Staff Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Meet Calista Camarda<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Santa Sabina\u2019s youngest teacher and a rising star in education! With multiple academic awards from the University of Sydney and a passion for creativity, Calista is inspiring the next generation every day.<\/em><\/summary>\n

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Calista Camarda may be at the start of her teaching career, but she\u2019s already turning heads with a string of prestigious academic awards and a passion for education that\u2019s impossible to miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A standout graduate of the University of Sydney, Calista was awarded the University\u2019s Academic Merit Prize in 2023 and earned a place on the Dean\u2019s List of Excellence in both 2022 and 2023. Her academic journey \u2013 leading to her Bachelor of Education (Primary) \u2013 also includes a 2021 Merit Prize, underscoring a consistent record of excellence. With grades and interests that could have opened doors to science or architecture, she chose instead to pursue her calling in primary education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the youngest teacher at Santa Sabina College, Calista leads the Year 4 Daintree class in Del Monte with a blend of intellectual rigour, creativity, and compassion. \u2018It\u2019s something I\u2019m really passionate about,\u2019 she says. \u2018I love to see students grow and flourish and being part of that journey.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her path to the classroom was inspired early on by her grandmother\u2019s family day care. \u2018It was such a nurturing environment,\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I knew I wanted to be part of that for other children.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calista\u2019s connection to Santa Sabina began as a prac student, followed by an internship, and ultimately a permanent teaching role. Today, she guides a class of 23 boys and girls with a focus on emotional connection and academic growth. \u2018Building a relationship with them is the most important thing \u2013 because if you don\u2019t have that connection, it\u2019s hard to build content knowledge.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month, her students are exploring poetry \u2013 a challenge for some, but one Calista meets with patience and encouragement. Her teaching is enriched by a specialisation in mathematics and a deep well of creative talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A self-taught artist, Calista\u2019s realistic pencil drawings \u2013 especially of animals \u2013 earned her a Highly Commended award at the 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show. She uses her artistic skills to inspire creativity and visual learning in her classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s also a competitive dancer, having trained since age nine and performed at venues such as the Sydney Opera House and ICC Sydney. She\u2019s even judged dance competitions. \u2018Dance has taught me discipline, resilience and the value of creative expression \u2013 qualities I bring into my teaching as well.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her accolades, Calista remains humble. \u2018I just really love teaching at Santa Sabina,\u2019 she says. \u2018The staff are beautiful \u2013 always collaborative and helpful.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With her award-winning academic background, creative flair and deep commitment to her students, Calista Camarda is not just a promising young teacher \u2013 she\u2019s a rising star in Australian education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria Harper<\/strong>
Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Award-winning graduate Calista Camarda brings academic brilliance to the classroom Staff Story Calista Camarda may be at the start of her teaching career, but she\u2019s already turning heads with a string of prestigious academic awards and a passion for education that\u2019s impossible to miss. A standout graduate of the University of Sydney, Calista was awarded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[8],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-17529","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/17529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=17529"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=17529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}