Ode to Margeretha Carolina Claassen-Huijer | Ode to M.C. Claassen-Huyer

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Dear Miss Claassen-Huijer,

At a young age you already knew it; education. That is where your heart found a home. Teaching became your mission and your passion. A certificate examining primary education was in your name in 1902. A second birth; the first on September 8, 1883 as Margaretha Carolina Huijer and then in 1902 as Juf Margaretha Huijer. At the 1st class schools no.108 and no.97 they first got to know you as a teacher.

Eventually you did not stop at just teaching others, you also had to brush up your own knowledge. So you continued your studies. In 1906 a second certificate of competence was obtained. This time as head teacher, a real title and dream. At the Jan van der Heijdenschool and Potgieterschool more children got to know Miss Margaretha Huijer.

In 1920 you were chosen for a special job. The job you studied for, a position with power and influence. Principal; the figurehead of the Prince's School. You were not just another principal of a school in Amsterdam, but the first female principal in Amsterdam. The first woman in this position, a title position. Something to be proud of, an accomplished goal. An example for all women and girls. You turned a wish into something tangible. It was suddenly feasible for a woman to become a school principal in a big city like Amsterdam.

For yourself, children never came about. Perhaps because learning to teach all the children who had the privilege of knowing you was enough. There must have been plenty of people very proud of you. Now you have one more. I am proud that Amsterdam had you as the first female principal. I am proud that so many children were taught by you. I am proud that education had you as a special addition.

On June 23, 1967, your heart found a new place of peace. Unfortunately no longer among people but somewhere else. My feeling is that education never left your heart. Hopefully you are a little proud of how things are now and how you have done yourself.

I want to thank you for your willingness to learn, your courage and your wisdom. You are an example to me. Hopefully I will later become that kind of teacher too, with her full heart in the profession.

Thanks, Lente Schrijver