When one sees Ms. Krishna, standing before her students, donning her lab coat and talking them through the intricacies of a science experiment, it becomes fairly obvious that she is right in her element. Under her tutelage, we have seen many students’ love for sciences grow; she ceaselessly encourages students to go further with their passion, identifying new science competitions for them to participate in, putting in extra hours to prepare them for these competitions and celebrating with them when they excel.
Ms. Krishna’s work does not stop with the sciences though. She is also big on community service and has been a key person in creating new initiatives for beneficiaries such as TOUCH Community Services, Salvation Army and many more. She instils in students the desire to serve the less privileged.
And of course, who can forget the annual Deepavali staff gathering that Ms. Krishna organises, often bringing many traditional homemade snacks to share with colleagues, in the spirit of the festival of lights!
We are in awe of the many hats Ms. Krishna wears and so we decided to delve deeper into her story from her perspective!
Hello Ms. Krishna, tell us more about yourself!
My name is Krishnaveni Kumaresan, and I am the Year 6 coordinator of Grade 6.
I started my teaching career 26 years ago with a passion for learning new things that come along the way. I completed my double Master’s degree in the education hub city, Coimbatore, also known as the Manchester of South India. I worked as a Research Scientist and lecturer at a college there for ten years before moving to Singapore to join my husband. I equipped myself by doing more part-time courses in the field of Education and Bioinformatics in the hope of finding my place in Singapore.
When I moved to Singapore, I was selected to be a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic and as a teacher at GESS at the same time. I chose GESS because of my interest in teaching younger kids.
This is my fourteenth year in Singapore, and we as a family love it here. It is near our home country, and we chose this city because we can fly to our elderly parents within five hours and be there with them when they need us.
I am passionate about international education, particularly middle school, as it is the age that is thought to be critical in health and emotional development.
In my spare time, I enjoy being with family and friends, travelling (when I can!) and doing some creative art pieces with my daughter, or doing some community service at the Salvation Army/community centres in Singapore.
We know you have been at GESS for a long time. When did you join and what drew you to the school?
I joined GESS in August 2005 as the Middle School science teacher, and in the subsequent years took on various roles within the IB section and now, this 14th year, I am the grade level coordinator for Grade 6.
When I first joined, I was attracted to GESS as it is both an IB school and a German School Abroad; it values diversity and is truly international whilst still being grounded in European culture and German roots. It is also important that GESS is a community school, and it respected my culture and accepted me as I am.
I joined GESS at the old campus at Bukit Tinggi road with all the greenery, and now I am proud of and fascinated with this new campus with excellent facilities.
What makes you look forward to coming into work every day?
My days have been very busy but rewarding. I work with the Middle School students from various angles, nurturing them to carry out their ideas in scientific research and at the same time taking them to the community to provide service to others. I make sure to introduce at least one new element into my teaching every year so that the students have enriching experiences.
I love to start my day with my diligent, hard-working colleagues who bring new ideas and approaches to teaching every other day. And I always look forward to being with the student community and learn a lot from their experiences.
Students Packing Christmas Goody Bags for Salvation Army 
Students Handing Over the Bags to Salvation Army
What are some really good memories you have from your time in GESS?
I have a lot of nostalgic moments at GESS; too many thoughts to share, but I would like to share a few key highlights:
I remember the first group of students winning the outstanding project award at the Scientific Research Programme conducted by Republic Polytechnic, and this continued as a hat-trick in the following years (2005-2008).
I was also very proud when two of my students won first place in the Beyond the Haze competition and had an adventure trip to Sumatran Islands.
Another student achievement that has stayed with me is when Grade 9 students won third place at the International Science Drama competition in 2019 and a Grade 9 student received the Young Engineer Award in 2021.
Of course, I cannot forget the time I was elated when I joined the C.A.R.E committee, when the previous principal Mr Steininger appreciated how GESS could work with the local community through TOUCH organisation.
I would also certainly like to mention the appreciation and applause that I received from the students when I got the gold coin for my 10-year service award.
Once a student said to me, “When Mrs K approaches me, how would I say no”. This made me appreciate how well the students receive my words, and I truly bow before the respect shown by my students.
