From the Dean of Identity and Community
Service and Song at Emmanuel City Mission
This week, nine students and Ms Mavritsky from our Student Development Program spent a few hours at Emmanuel City Mission, serving lunch to guests and offering conversation, kindness and care. Joining them were around 25 students who serve in the program as our music ministry, along with Mr Brown and Mr Leinenga, who filled the space with uplifting songs and live performances.
The combination of service and music brought joy and connection to everyone present - guests, volunteers and staff alike. People were tapping their feet in the lunch line, singing along at the tables and sharing smiles across the room. Jill, the kitchen coordinator, expressed her gratitude and delight at the atmosphere created, calling it “a highlight of the week.” We’re incredibly proud of all students and staff involved for living out our College values through generosity, compassion and community spirit this year.
St Vincent de Paul Ozanam Leadership Program (OLP)- Written by Remi M and Lachlan A (Year 11)
The St Vincent de Paul Ozanam Leadership Program (OLP) is designed particularly to develop students' leadership, teamwork and advocacy skills. With meetings every second Wednesday evening and a set of excursions, the OLP provides Year 10 and 11 students an opportunity to discover what leadership means for them and what because they wish to campaign for.
To begin the program, we were stationed at Emu Gully Camp- a camp that built robust, effective teams out of the freshly introduced students. With nearly 50 students divided into two groups, we were immediately immersed in teamwork activities such as cleaning, cooking for each other, starting campfires and even choreographing artistic dance routines for extra marks. During the camp, we underwent challenges that exercised our teamwork and endurance; from pushing through muddy trails carrying boxes (and sometimes each other), crawling blindfolded through simulated Vietnam War tunnels, and buggying, to bridge construction and dashing across netted sand pits while not getting hit by a swivelling turret.
While these were fantastically fun, each activity was an enriched learning. The ANZAC-themed obstacles reminded us about the hardships of the soldiers and imbued us with great lessons on leadership, teamwork, and perseverance; all in the process of building strong bonds of shared experience and common stories.
Lastly, after a highly eventful camp, we began with our leadership development sessions. These sessions were all about finding out our leadership style, how to work together as a team, and finding out what advocacy means in our lives. We heard motivational testimonies from the guest speakers such as Matt Kratiuk and four main CEOs that have connections with Vinnies. We also had the opportunity to volunteer for the Gold Coast and Brisbane CEO Sleepouts, organize every detail of a Buddy Day (activities, food and entertainment), and attend a homelessness awareness walk around Brisbane.
The program culminated with discussions regarding all we had learned; from communication and navigating difficult conversations to the reality of leadership, advocacy and collaboration. From camps, service and bi-weekly sessions, the OLP was a truly life-altering experience for everyone concerned.
Key Takeaways:
Lachlan: It taught me that the issues that matter aren't simply what you see on your screen but what is right in front of you and how simply talking to those who struggle and learning about who they are could make their life just that much better. The Ozanam program opened my eyes to how little we as a world are doing to support people and enabled me to strive to do more in my daily life and what to improve in our school as a whole.
Remi: This journey taught me many things and reshaped many beliefs I had previously but what truly stuck with me was how important learning people’s stories are. Whether it be talking to people who are struggling or just going around to people who are slightly out of your circle and getting to know who they really are. To me, this taught me to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and to always push for more.
Live Jesus in our Hearts; Forever!
MR LACHLAN HESHUSIUS
Dean of Identity and Community