Did you have a teacher who left a lasting impact on you?  A teacher you still remember to this day? 

There’s a teacher based in Sydney, this year’s Local Hero of the Year, who’s changing the lives of students around the world.

Eddie Woo is the Head Maths teacher at Sydney’s Cherrybrook Tech High School and he uses his youtube channel “Wootube” to get kids interested in maths.

He tells Chris Smith how he feels about receiving the Local Hero of the Year award.

“It’s obviously an incredible honour.

“For me, the biggest part of being Australian is we recognise and treasure diversity. We want to make sure we appreciate the things that unify us without diminishing the things that distunguish us.”

Eddie says he wants to make teaching a more desirable profession and fix the chronic shortage of maths teachers in schools across NSW.

“40% is the approximate number of year 7-10 maths classes in NSW that don’t have the privilege of being taught by a qualified, passionate mathematics teacher.

“[Teaching] is a worthwhile and important thing in our society.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview