The legacy left by Mildura’s late Dr Julie Zrna was her endless optimism and dedication to education, along with the ability to continue to thrive in life while undergoing her own private cancer battle.
It is these sentiments that other cancer patients are hoped to draw strength from, and only fitting, that Mildura Health Foundation’s new patient accommodation facility be named The Dr Julie Zrna Centre.
Dr Zrna had cancer for an extended period but never let it impact her life, instead
continuing to dedicate her life’s work to literacy education.
Mildura West Primary School principal Anne Robinson, a close friend and colleague, met Dr Zrna many decades ago, with the pair working together on and off throughout their careers.
She said Dr Zrna was a “beautiful human being and a gifted leader in education”, and never let her cancer diagnosis slow her down, in fact, going on to achieve numerous goals in between her treatments including becoming a Doctor of Philosophy.
“Julie was the most humble person I’d ever met, she never sought any accolades and she worked so hard and really gave her life to education,” Ms Robinson said.
“I never saw her as sick and dying of cancer, she was living life to the full, with cancer. She never gave up, she continued to travel, continued in her consultancy role, teaching others to be the very best educators… and she became a doctor while she was still having treatment.
“She never spoke about being sick and was never indulgent about her own health because she was all about life and living.”
Dr Zrna started out as a teacher before spending much of her career working as a literacy consultant and training teachers locally, interstate and internationally.
The passionate educator was also part of the prestigious and world-renowned Reading Recovery program where she worked as a tutor, meaning she was a recognised expert in the teaching of reading and trained thousands of teachers to become Reading Recovery teachers.
“She also believed that parents played a huge role in literacy education,” Ms Robinson said.
“She conducted hundreds of workshops with parents from all walks of life, helping them understand their important role in literacy development, and published a parent program,Partner’s In Print.”
While Dr Zrna spent a lot of time working with teachers and principals, she never lost her love for working directly with children.
“Julie continued to teach students, modelling her outstanding teaching methods, that resulted in such positive outcomes.
“She was always the most fun, happy, positive person when dealing with the children, she was the model teacher of how to be happy and optimistic.”
“Julie made sure every educator and every child she taught felt special.
“Her positivity, humility and optimism were infectious, even when Julie challenged teachers, she did so in such a positive manner, always smiling.”
Ms Robinson said she hoped that everything Dr Zrna stood for would give hope to others undergoing cancer treatment and staying at The Dr Julie Zrna Centre.
It is these sentiments that other cancer patients are hoped to draw strength from, and only fitting, that Mildura Health Foundation’s new patient accommodation facility be named The Dr Julie Zrna Centre.
Dr Zrna had cancer for an extended period but never let it impact her life, instead
continuing to dedicate her life’s work to literacy education.
Mildura West Primary School principal Anne Robinson, a close friend and colleague, met Dr Zrna many decades ago, with the pair working together on and off throughout their careers.
She said Dr Zrna was a “beautiful human being and a gifted leader in education”, and never let her cancer diagnosis slow her down, in fact, going on to achieve numerous goals in between her treatments including becoming a Doctor of Philosophy.
“Julie was the most humble person I’d ever met, she never sought any accolades and she worked so hard and really gave her life to education,” Ms Robinson said.
“I never saw her as sick and dying of cancer, she was living life to the full, with cancer. She never gave up, she continued to travel, continued in her consultancy role, teaching others to be the very best educators… and she became a doctor while she was still having treatment.
“She never spoke about being sick and was never indulgent about her own health because she was all about life and living.”
Dr Zrna started out as a teacher before spending much of her career working as a literacy consultant and training teachers locally, interstate and internationally.
The passionate educator was also part of the prestigious and world-renowned Reading Recovery program where she worked as a tutor, meaning she was a recognised expert in the teaching of reading and trained thousands of teachers to become Reading Recovery teachers.
“She also believed that parents played a huge role in literacy education,” Ms Robinson said.
“She conducted hundreds of workshops with parents from all walks of life, helping them understand their important role in literacy development, and published a parent program,Partner’s In Print.”
While Dr Zrna spent a lot of time working with teachers and principals, she never lost her love for working directly with children.
“Julie continued to teach students, modelling her outstanding teaching methods, that resulted in such positive outcomes.
“She was always the most fun, happy, positive person when dealing with the children, she was the model teacher of how to be happy and optimistic.”
“Julie made sure every educator and every child she taught felt special.
“Her positivity, humility and optimism were infectious, even when Julie challenged teachers, she did so in such a positive manner, always smiling.”
Ms Robinson said she hoped that everything Dr Zrna stood for would give hope to others undergoing cancer treatment and staying at The Dr Julie Zrna Centre.
