‘‘I remember the time vividly when I was here, because it almost put me off teaching,'' Mr Radka said.
He had been posted to the school on work experience in 1969 and 1970. ‘‘In those days they didn't have a lot of student teachers here and they weren't ready for me. I was in the way.''
However, Jim Hamilton, now retired in Alexandra, welcomed the student into his classroom. ‘‘He was an English teacher at the time and he gave me real encouragement.''
One of his first pupils was Maree Scott, now Maree Smyth, wife of the present principal Dave Smyth.
‘‘Dave would have been here as well, but I don't remember teaching him,'' Mr Radka said.
Another significant pupil was Mr Hamilton's son Alan (now assistant principal), who began as a third former in February 1970.
‘‘The four of us have shared that hall for many years - Jim, myself, Alan and Maree.''
Mr Radka spent his first five years teaching at Kingswell High School in Invercargill before returning to Dunstan. There he would spend the next 33 years working full-time, firstly as a history teacher. He also watched his four sons attend the high school.
In 1980, he started a Diploma of Education and Guidance, completing his studies in 1981 while working as a full-time guidance counsellor at the school.
‘‘There had never been a counsellor in the school before and I think, quite wisely, they allowed me to write my own job description. I was the only qualified counsellor in the area so I often was called upon to help outside the school.''
Mr Radka said there were four projects at the school he had been involved with which became models for other schools and enhanced his rapport with the pupils he counselled.
The leadership and outdoor education programmes he developed with department head Eric Schusser were integrated into the school camps at Mt Aspiring.
‘‘To go along to the camps was a great way to get students to trust me. It gives me the opportunity to connect with those students if they need me as a counsellor during their school time."
‘‘Kids don't very easily knock on a stranger's door.''
In 1983, the parent of a child with Down Syndrome asked Mr Radka to arrange a programme for the child so she could be integrated into the school community rather than being institutionalised.
‘‘Other parents asked if they could have their children here rather than sending them to an institution.''
The University of Otago recognised what Dunstan High School was doing for pupils with special needs, and asked to use its successful programme in other schools.
‘‘We didn't know what we were doing was revolutionary,'' Mr Radka said. The method soon became something a range of pupils benefited from.
‘‘We used the same method for everyone, which was regarded as revolutionary.''
The school was given funding to develop its programme further, which led to the employment of the first teacher aids, he said.
Mr Radka was also employed to integrate Maori culture within the school and arranged to have a hui with Fred Rewa, formerly of Alexandra, and Louise McKenzie, a former Maori teacher who still plays an active role in Central Otago's Maori community.
‘‘It was quite scary for me because it was a whole new world, but they embraced me and looked after me.''
As a result, Maori language was incorporated into the curriculum and Maori pupils had an identity within the school.
In the same way, Mr Radka has welcomed international pupils to the school in his capacity as the school's international director.
He and his wife Noeline have hosted international pupils for the past 13 years. ‘‘We've got 17 kids that call us Mum and Dad.
‘‘I'm on call 24/seven and I've done that for 14 years.''
The couple have visited families of pupils who have lived with them in Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
‘‘The people we meet enrich our lives and if they challenge our values they represent a huge opportunity for growth.''
Mr Radka said working as a school counsellor had given him the flexibility to be involved in projects other teachers would not have the time for.
‘‘When you're a counsellor you're constantly faced with kids that are failing, people who are unhappy, things that aren't working. I was always looking around for answers to this . . . it hasn't been a wasted career.''
