An educator said to have inspired teachers and principals throughout Otago in a career spanning 37 years has been awarded a prestigious fellowship for his "outstanding" contribution to education.
Kaikorai School principal Nigel Wilson has been made a Fellow of the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI).
"There's been a lot of work go in over the years across all levels of education and across all levels of the institute.
"It's a real honour to be recognised by your peers for this," he said.
Mr Wilson began his teaching career in 1972 at Twizel Area School and has since taught at Dunedin North Intermediate, Northeast Valley Normal, George Street Normal, High Street and Wakari Schools, before becoming principal at Balaclava School.
For the past 14 years, he has been principal of Kaikorai School.
When Mr Wilson is not in the classroom, he spends his weekends on sportsfields coaching Otago schoolboy rugby and cricket teams.
He also has a strong environmental interest which he shares with his pupils - he has worked with members of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Trees for Survival and helped develop the wetlands at Kaikorai Common.
Mr Wilson's long involvement with the NZEI began when he was a young teacher trainee at the Dunedin College of Education.
Since then, he has been in leadership roles, and he has been an NZEI executive member since 1999.
An institute spokeswoman said the fellowship was given to those well respected by their peers and who had made an outstanding contribution to education and NZEI.
He was well known throughout the Otago educational community and had maintained a strong involvement with the Dunedin College of Education and the University of Otago through his long career, often taking up guest-lecturing spots, she said.
