More than 20 years ago Gary Halpin had just started as an assistant principal at Springwood Public School, while Rachael Honeysett was finishing Year 6.
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Today Mr Halpin is reaching the end of his time at the school while Ms Honeysett is teaching Years 5 and 6.
Both of them remember the school's last paver stone fundraiser in 2002, so the school's current paver project - to fund a yarning circle - holds extra meaning.
On March 11 the two took a stroll down to the back of the school and looked over the old paved area together.
Thinking back to the last ceremony, Mr Halpin saw part of his own story paralleled in Ms Honeysett's current life.
"I was in your position, I had young kids at that time, my second had just been born. And it's literally a generation's worth of time has passed," he said to her.
"I don't think there's any bigger satisfaction as a teacher than watching kids grow up and equal or surpass you. I think that's the ultimate goal."
Mr Halpin started his career straight out of university teaching at Blacktown before joining Springwood as assistant principal for K to 2 in 2002.
Today he is Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction, but soon he'll be leaving for the mid-north coast.
"I have an end for my part of Springwood Public School coming. And so I feel, personally for me, this is really important," he said of the paver stone fundraiser.
"We put in a lot of hours here and we take a lot of pride in our kids and the community, and so leaving a bit of that behind is important. We do love this place."
When Ms Honeysett was a school vice captain in 2002, she was already holding ambitions to work in primary education.
"I started here in 1996, I was in Kindie, and I loved it," she said.
"By the time I was in Year 6 I wanted to be a primary school teacher, because I loved my primary school days here so much."
After high school and university she started at Springwood Public School casually, and in 2018 she became a permanent teacher.
For her, the paver stones mark the start of a journey that she may even be able to look back on at the next fundraiser.
"It would be amazing... because I've got my family here and they'll start school here. I have no plans to be moving anywhere else," she said.
Mr Halpin said that these sort of connections are not only important for schools to work well, but are core to the ideas behind a yarning circle.
"Maintaining that sense of community, and ex-students and ex-teachers, [is] really valuable to us doing our job," he said.
"The foundations of a sharing knowledge circle are really that, it's people just sharing with each other, and then the pavers are just that symbol of people just leaving their mark in the same way that they've left their mark on us."
All funds from purchased pavers will go towards the construction of the yarning circle, part of the school's celebration of Indigenous culture alongside the current Aboriginal Language program and Koori Club.
The school's main target is 100 paver stones, which allows free delivery, but Mr Halpin said "the more pavers, the more professional we're able to make this look, the longer it will last for".
To support the fundraiser and buy a paver stone, visit the school's website and click SPS Paver link: https://springwood-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/
Pavers are $50 each and can be personalised with up to 3 lines of writing (16 characters per line including spaces). Examples include student names, family names, and years attended.
Interested businesses can also contact the school to support the paver construction process or purchase their own paver stone.
An opening ceremony will be held at the end of the year, available to the public, for the stones to be viewed.
