Matthew Panayotopoulos from St Euphemia College in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown has been nominated for Australian Teacher of the Year.
News Corp Australia have partnered with ANZ, Teachers Mutual Bank, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, Care For Kids, Griffith University and PwC to launch the ‘Australia’s Best Teachers’ series celebrating innovative and inspirational educators.
Mr Panayotopoulos is Director of Learning at St Euphemia College and he was nominated by Theony Nikas in recognition of his work with the school’s Change Makers Project.
Launched in 2022, Mr Panayotopoulos and students raised funds to convert a 20-foot shipping container into a library for Lismore South Public School after their library was destroyed in local floods.
The school also partnered with Upschool to raise $10,000 to create a library for Gyan Ganga School in Sambhal, India.
Following the announcement of his nomination, Mr Panayotopoulos said on LinkedIn that he felt “humbled.”
“None of these achievements are possible without the support of St Euphemia College Principal Reverend Father Peter Mavrommatis and the school board, who give their full support to these wild ideas to bring real change to our local and global community,” Mr Panayotopoulos said.
