Staff Profile

Tracy Telfer

This is my fifth year teaching at NorthTec. The first two years I taught the Café & Bar course, then I taught STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource) for a year and last year and this year I am teaching the Trade Academy Cookery class and STAR courses.

I have lived in Whangarei for 20 years this year, my husband and I kind of just ended up here after returning from England. I was really against settling here but now I love it and couldn't think of many other places I'd rather be (ok Hawaii or the Gold Coast maybe!)

Previous to teaching at North Tec I owned a café for 3 1/2 years (a steep learning curve!) and prior to that I had various roles in other hospitality industries. The best one working for a wine company where the perks of the job were well and truly worth it =)

I've always loved cooking and entertaining, it's how I show my love!. I get bored with food VERY quickly and you'd be shocked at how many recipe books and 'foodie' magazines I possess.

If I hadn't trained as a Pastry Chef then I would have wanted to be a wine maker, one of my other great interests.

Trades Academy students come one day a week for the whole year. The class is made up of mainly year 13 students that are looking at a career in Hospitality. I enjoy the age group that I am teaching (surprisingly!!) and probably because I have kids the same age at home, feel that I can relate to them better.

I get to travel to other secondary schools around Northland to teach STAR courses which is really interesting, and some of the students I get to meet and see 'grow' over the year is amazing