Chrissie Lewis
Chrissie Lewis – Educator, Counsellor and Author
Life for Chrissie began in Harare, Zimbabwe, as the third child of four in her family. As her father was involved in agriculture, she lived in places as far-flung as Mount Pleasant, Marondera and Lusaka. With the children at school age, her family settled in Greendale, Harare with the children attending Courteney Selous primary school, moving to Oriel Girls High for Chrissie and her sisters, Oriel Boys High for her brother.
After school, Chrissie completed a business course at the local polytechnic and then went to Hillside Teacher’s College in Bulawayo, qualifying as an Infants Teacher. She went on to gain a Bachelor of Education at the University of Zimbabwe, started her teaching career with a combined Grade 1/2 class in Eiffel Flats and then moved to North Park in Harare. She spent a year travelling abroad in Europe, the U.K., Canada and USA, where she ‘coincidentally’ met up with Peter and Vivian Jenkins whilst attending a summer school in Dallas, Texas. Chrissie returned to Zimbabwe and spent a year working as a ‘governess’ on Fothergill Island, on Lake Kariba.
MORE ABOUT CHRISSIE
In 1982, Chrissie was approached by the Board of Midlands Christian School to consider joining the staff as the Infants teacher. She moved from Kariba to Gweru, enjoying the pioneering years of establishing the fledgling school, teaching with Viv in a small farm cottage, which had been promoted from life as a pig pen to classroom! The subsequent growth of the school brought many more fine teachers on staff. Amongst them was Kevin Lewis who had been a friend of Chrissie’s at TTC. Romance blossomed and they got married in Gweru, Kevin becoming Principal of MCS. He oversaw the growth and development of the school to establish the start of the secondary school, Midlands Christian College.
Whilst at MCS, Chrissie and Vivian co-authored Books 1-20 of the Sunrise Readers. This is a series of reading books for young learners beginning to read in English. Originally intended as a resource just for the classes at MCS, the Sunrise Readers took on a life of their own when they were approved by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education for use in all schools. Over three decades later, the books continue to be used across the country.
Kevin and Chrissie’s two daughters were born in Zimbabwe before the young family moved to Howick in KwaZulu-Natal – the first stop on what was to become a sojourn as global gypsies! After 18 months, they moved to Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana, Chrissie teaching Year 1 classes and Kevin Year 6 students at Kopano School. At Chrissie’s suggestion, the school began using the Sunrise Readers across the early grades, to the delight of the multi-national learners. After three years, they moved within Botswana to join staff at Acacia School, in Jwaneng for four years.
Their next move saw them heading to the far side of the globe – Auckland, New Zealand. Chrissie worked in a Kip McGrath education centre, providing one-on-one extra tuition to students – some of whom needed remedial work and others keen on extension and enrichment of their educational experience. Eight months in the big smoke was enough for this family, more used to open savannah and watching small game at isolated pans and they moved to Kaitaia in New Zealand’s “Winterless North.” Chrissie undertook training in Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) in order to teach at Abundant Life school, situated in the local church. The family shifted to home schooling their daughters for the remaining three years of their time in New Zealand. Chrissie and her class of two enjoyed the freedom in the beautiful setting at the southern end of 90 Mile Beach!
September 2001 will evoke memories for many people – for the Lewis family “9/11” was also the date on which they flew from Sydney to Perth, having moved to their fifth country just three days beforehand. Kevin was offered the post as Principal of a Christian primary school in a rural coastal community and as they acclimatised to another new spot, Chrissie and the girls continued homeschooling for a further year. Chrissie worked afternoons in another Kip McGrath Education centre and embarked on studying for a Diploma in Christian Counselling and Family Therapy. The girls returned to school for the final two years of high school and Chrissie accepted a teaching post in a brand new Lutheran School, just down the road from their newly built home. She taught a combined class of Year 5 and 6 students for a year and then found a spot in her comfort zone, teaching Pre-Primary and Year 1 children for a further five years. Kevin joined the staff in the second year of the school’s existence and once again, Mr and Mrs Lewis were involved in establishing a growing school community.
Having qualified as a counsellor, Chrissie moved into that vocation, joining the staff at her church, to walk alongside individuals, couples and families on their life’s journey. She gained a qualification in Career and Employment counselling and worked with a not-for-profit organisation, assisting people in their quest for a good fit in their professional roles and visiting secondary schools to prepare students for tertiary study choices and work opportunities. Chrissie’s teaching career spanned over 30 years and encompassed students from age 4 to 18, across 4 countries. Just when she thought the sun might be setting on her time in education, along came another opportunity!
Easter 2014, Kevin was contacted by his former deputy principal at MCS, Mike Green who had gone on to be Principal in his turn. Mike and Dilys were establishing a new English-medium school in the Nampula Province in the north of Mozambique. Mike explained how some of their students were now in their early teens and heading into secondary school years. He offered Kevin the opportunity to help map out suitable programs in this uncharted territory. A number of loose threads came together remarkably to see Chrissie resigning from her Team Leader role as a careers counsellor to join Kevin on his new venture. Chrissie found herself back in the classroom with a small group of Year 3 students. There she encountered the Sunrise Readers in the hands of young learners from a wide range of countries and home languages, learning to read in English using books she’d co-authored 30 years before!
Chrissie was delighted to see the books still in use but realised how dated they seemed in the new century. She and Viv had often yearned to bring the Sunrise Readers up to date, particularly for the opportunity to refresh the artwork and better reflect the widely altered world in which most young children now live.
That opportunity came in 2017, when Chrissie and Vivian were approached by Pearson Africa to revise the Sunrise Readers. Beyond the authors’ dreams, however, was the new territory into which the revised books would be catapulted. Pearson Africa proposed to market the new Sunrise Readers in all the countries across Africa in which their business had a presence. Alongside Zimbabwe, the new books have already found a market in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia and Kenya. The authors were particularly privileged to address the Pearson sales and marketing reps at their conference in Cape Town in 2018. Chrissie was invited on an author’s visit to a Year 1 class in her hometown in WA, where the children enjoyed looking at the new books, comparing them to the old and listened to an African fable from one of the books.
In 2019, Chrissie qualified as a Trainer/Assessor and now works with adults living with intellectual disabilities, delivering training in English, Maths and social skills across several locations. She and Vivian continue to ‘meet’ in a virtual capacity, thanks to modern technology and both look forward to having Books 1-10 of the revised Sunrise Readers in their hands in Real Time!