Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

On Thursday morning we held our annual Investiture Assembly where we acknowledged those students who have taken on a leadership position in 2017. The Co-Principal’s Address focused on the attitude that all students have the capacity to exhibit elements of leadership.

I am sure that you have heard of the term megastructure. What is a megastructure? Perhaps a great big skyscraper that climbs high into the clouds or maybe a large bridge spanning extensively over the horizon connecting land masses. They are not described as mega for no reason. But what is it that keeps them standing?

Have you ever heard the term “pillar?” The definition of pillar is: “an upright structure, of stone, brick, or other material, relatively slender in proportion to its height, and used as a building support.” When you view the Eureka Skydeck you do not see its pillars. They are buried deep within the foundations and climb within its internal walls. When you drive over the Westgate Bridge the pillars or piers stand solid underneath you. Megastructures stand out but it’s the pillars that keep them up.

There is a story of a young girl, Natalie Warne, who at the age of 18 became a symbol for young activists everywhere. Inspired by Invisible Children, a documentary about Joseph Kony, a Ugandan rebel leader who forced children to become soldiers who killed indiscriminately, Warne joined the Invisible Children movement and eventually showed how being young is no obstacle to changing the world.

Warne, along with others with Invisible Children, was working to bring awareness to a law that would make it American policy to go after Kony. Her efforts brought her to the studio of the Oprah Winfrey show where the Invisible Children movement stood up and advocated for the law. Ten days later, the law was introduced into Congress. And a year later, the law was signed off.

Getting a spot on the Oprah show is a big deal and people will remember most that moment Natalie got to appear on Oprah. However, she points out that what made their movement a success was not what was shown on television but what happened behind the cameras. She talks about the people who showed up to support the cause of Invisible Children even when it rained, the other youngsters that planned other events, and even a family that bought a hundred boxes of pizza for the supporters. These are people that didn’t do it for the glory but for the goal. “The moment isn’t a movement,” she said. “What fuels a movement is the anonymous extraordinaries behind it.”

Natalie’s message is to chase after your dreams and not let youth stop you. She says “In the small anonymous monotonous every single day acts, I have to remind myself to be extraordinary. It is the acts that make us extraordinary. Not the Oprah moments.” Therefore, when it comes to leadership, and individual leadership, the anonymous extraordinaries are the pillars that support leaders and keep them standing.

“Anonymous Extraordinaries.” This term describes people of exceptional talent that make major contributions to the work of great leaders, but who remain largely unknown for the work they do. We have seen it many times, the credit for major movements often goes to single iconic individuals, ignoring or making light the incredible contributions of those around them. For example while Martin Luther King Jr. is given credit for the civil rights movement in America in the 1960’s, it is the work of the army of the Anonymous Extraordinary that made it happen, and succeed.

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From the Co-Principals

Marian College196 Glengala RdWest Sunshine 3020Phone 9363 1711Fax 9363 2386www.mariansw.catholic.edu.au

ISSUE 223RD FEBRUARY 2017A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

» Marian News, PG. PB

Marian NewsEVENTS:

FEBRUARY27th• Kildare Ministries

Educating for Justice Student Seminar

28th• Kildare Ministries

Educating for Justice Student Seminar

MARCH2nd• Archbishop’s

Conversation with Student Leaders 10.00am-3.pm St. Kevin College Toorak

3rd• Yr 9 Unplugged Day• School’s Clean Up

Day• World Day of Prayer

7th• 60th Anniversary

Celebration - Opening School Mass

8th• Winter Uniform

Fittings 3pm -7pm

9th• VCAL Excursion• Yr 7 Art Excursion

10th• Marian News

Published11th• Cultural Diversity

Week begins• Catholic Education

Week beings

13th• Public Holiday -

Labour Day

14th• Open Morning

PRAYER FOR HOMELESS PERSONSO God you are a God of justice, mercy andcompassion. Support us your servants of the poor, as we endeavourto bring your love and compassion to people who are homelessand in need of your love.We pray that we will see you, our all-loving God in each homelessperson we encounter and in our service for those in need.May we do all in our power to support each person reachtheir potential, so they experience the fullness of life.We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ.

Amen!

PRAYER :

Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

From the Co-PrincipalsThere is no doubt an anonymous extraordinary enacts and displays a number of important qualities.

• They need to have Spirit: a passion, drive and energy for something they strongly believe in. • They need to have Intellect: a free collection of thought that makes them able to reason through issues and encounters, and act with a positive outlook. • They need to have Imagination: the world needs dreamers, individuals who are creative and a have a sense of seeking endless opportunities. • They need to have Heart: an ability to persist with the knowledge that their efforts will provide a better life for all creation. • They need to have Hands: a realistic view that anything worthwhile needs to be achieved through hard work and requires getting your hands dirty.

This year we will focus on the Kildare Ministries value of Courage and our school theme of Serving with Strength and Kindness for 60 years. These encourage us to participate in the life of the school wholeheartedly. Whether students receive a leadership badge or not, they have an opportunity to be extraordinary. Some of them will do so anonymously whilst others will have a stage to work from. Either way, it’s the fulfilling of our values, goals, vision and mission that keeps us driving forward. To that end, we congratulate in advance all students on being extraordinary.

Rita Grima and Raymond Pisani - Co-Principals

Faith and MissionOur news media has certainly brought home to us the fact that many Melbournians and indeed many all over the world sleep very tough, on the streets of a night and so I include the prayer for us this week for those who have to live this way.

Because of the compassion of many individuals who volunteer their time and organisations that assist the homeless they are in a relative better shape than those facing famine in Southern Sudan. The World Health Organisation has stated that 100,000 of their population are facing starvation with another million on the brink. We must keep these people in our prayers as well.On a more positive note is has been so pleasing to see so many of the students putting their hand up to be associated with the groups/teams that are on offer here at the College. In particular so many of our girls have committed to the Liturgy Team, Vinnies, Justice and Democracy Group and Leo’s.

Before you read the next Marian News the College will be involved in two major liturgical events. One being our Ash Wednesday Liturgy and our 60th Anniversary Mass. All staff will gather for a Liturgy in the Staffroom on Wednesday morning followed by an extended Homeroom Liturgy for the students. On Tuesday 7th March the College will celebrate, with Mass at St Leopold’s in Fitzgeralds Road, the fact that Marian College has successfully offered quality Catholic education in the West for 60 years. All parents and guardians are welcome to join us on the day. Mass will commence at 9.45amGod bless you all.

Leo Mc Inerney - Assistant to the Co-Principals - Faith and Mission

Learning and TeachingPARENT ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNINGIt was wonderful to meet with so many families at our recent Parent Information and Meet the Teacher Evenings. It has also been rewarding to work with families at our series of SEQTA Engage Parent Workshops. These are examples of ways that parents can engage productively in their daughter’s learning at Marian College.

It is now important that all parents and carers continue to be engaged in their daughter’s education throughout her years at Marian College. Parental engagement means being positively involved and active in your child’s learning. When parents are positively engaged in student learning, students are more likely to attend school and make greater progress.

There are many things that parents can do at home which can have a positive impact on learning outcomes. The Department of Education and Training (2017) Students First suggests a number of strategies for parents including:

• Have high yet achievable expectations of your child• Talk regularly about school and the value of learning• Encourage positive attitudes and respect for school and teachers• Ask about what they are learning at school

At this point, I would like to highlight the value of our parent portal, SEQTA Engage as a tool enabling far greater levels of engagement. With access to coursework, student goals, assessment results and feedback, parents can be more informed about their daughter’s learning. Parents can talk with their daughters about learning and progress, for example; what she did well, what her goals are and what strategies she can put in place to improve next time. Research clearly indicates that such learning conversations do increase student progress and improve learning outcomes.

Jane Goddard - Assistant to the Co-Principals - Learning and Teaching

Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

Student WellbeingKWONG LEE DOW YOUNG SCHOLARS PROGRAMLast year a number of our Year 10 students were nominated by the school for the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program that is part of the Scholarship Program offered by the University of Melbourne.

Two of our Year 10 students were selected out of many applicants across the state for their achievements academically as well as in leadership and community.

The two young women who have received this prestigious scholarship are:Breaze Cremona – Year 11My Phuong (Tina) Nguyen – Year 11

We congratulate both girls for their achievement. Well Done.

UNIFORM REMINDERSAs we approach the end of February we thank our many families who have supported the uniform policy and have addressed such things as the length of dresses and additional accessories such as earrings and nails.

We believe firmly that our uniform is an important part of being a member of our community and will continue to follow up with both parents and students any student who is unable to follow these expectations.

May we also remind parents who may need to purchase uniform pieces for the winter uniform that our uniform shop is open both Wednesday and Friday from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm.

From the beginning of Term 2 students are expected to wear their winter uniform.

INVESTITURE ASSEMBLYOn Thursday of this week over 120 students, throughout all levels of the school, were acknowledged for taking on a leadership position for 2017.

These leaders covered all of our elected positions including Lamp Bearers, Student Representative Council, Student Participation Group and House Captains.

The assembly also recognised those students who have taken on roles in our social justice areas such as St. Vincent de Paul, Liturgy Leaders, Justice and Democracy Forum and the Marian Leo’s.

A large number of girls in the Performing Arts area have also taken on both leadership and mentoring roles.

In this edition of the Marian News we acknowledge all of these students. We also acknowledge that all of our students have the capacity to demonstrate leadership within our community whether they have a badge of leadership or not.

We congratulate all of these students who have put their hand up in 2017 to make a difference in our community. STUDENT DROP-OFFS AND PICK-UPSWe would like to remind all families to use the safest drop-off and pick-up points to ensure that all drivers and pedestrians remain safe around the College.

Using the car park next door to St Paul’s Church or the parking area behind the Parish Hall ensures that students are safe, that driveways and bus bays are not blocked and that you are not at risk of receiving a fine.

In particular drivers dropping students off in the mornings are pulling into the two College driveways causing the banking up of traffic which creates a serious traffic hazard on Glengala Rd, especially when cars are then backed into oncoming traffic or execute a u-turn on busy Glengala Rd.

Traffic Management Officers from the Brimbank City Council have been monitoring the situation on Glengala Rd and traffic fines have been issued.

For the safety of students, staff, parents and the general public we anticipate your cooperation. Staff members may approach you if they believe that you are putting the safety of anyone at risk.

Kerrie Williams - Assistant to the Co-Principals – Student Wellbeing

Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

STUDENT PARTICIPATION GROUP REPRESENTATIVES - 20177 Dawson Diya Eldho, Cindy Nguyen 7 Delany Shine Mehta, Katie Nguyen 7 Doyle Mary Hubbard, Cynthia Negash7 Kinsella Lihini Hettikanda, Caroline Iosua7 Tullow Caitlyn Fitzsimons, Shalom Gizaw

8 Anthony Tracy Duong, Renee Scothern8 Caroline Shumirai Chinomona, Sandhu Prakash 8 Frances Lucy Davey, Alannah Pierotti 8 Mary Christina Cham, Krystyna Kuczynski 8 Veronica Dina Asefa, Tualupetu Laulu

9 Brigid Maxine Dabu, Hellen Nguyen9 Joan Anushka Jerry Andrews, Alyssa Van9 Matthew Jasmin Day, Taranpret Kaur9 Patrick Eda Cabuk, Achirin Dhieu9 Theresa Casey Lai, Anna Le

10 Andrew Charmaine Behal, Heshodi Ranasinghe 10 Catherine Destiny Liu, Lisa Wang 10 Cecilia Danielle Dimakis, Phuong To 10 David Manjury Biswas, Steffani Westmore 10 Ruth Charlene Behal, Nikki Nicolaides

House Captains for 2017 Year Level

Clonard

Iona

Kildare

Tara

7

Minuri Hewa Amelie Pantazopolous

Gracie Guiney Fehima Kapetanovic

Jennifer Nguyen Shani Penza

Sefulu-Penelope Leota-Seivli Seufatu Simona Tesfamarium

8

Anastasia Mavaega Noami Thang Eng

Seda Ceylan Sheridan Le’Toille

Nyat Ebuy Annie Nguyen

Olivia Marett Katrina Muscat

9

Jessica Tran Jenny Nguyen

Dimitra Halkidis Ream Gebremariam

Lisha Eli Francesca Nardella

Gardenia Nonu Olivia Kanongataa

10

Lisa Nguyen Cecilia Tafua

Pualine Chang Jaclyn Tran

Salome Alone Geranium Gale

Olivia Cosic Brooke Azzopardi

VCE

Katelyn D’Silva Joanna Le Samyuktha Cherukuri Erin D’Silva

Jamella Domingo Katherine Nguyen Sandali Munasinghe

Anna Hausia Sarah Masalosalo Tricelle Torregosa Machozi Mmunga

Jenny Le Leah Charman Nu nu Sarum Alicia Tong

SENIOR YEARS STUDENT PARTICIPATION GROUP REPRESENTATIVES Year 11 Year 12Breaze Cremona Courteney GattGabrielle David Isabella JalecoMelaea Kanongataa Renae LeKayla Lacey Jessica MeegamaFelicity Mifsud Cindy TranTina Nguyen Christina VuLyanna Villanueva Charity Yeboah

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL FOR 2017

7 Hanan Baarini, Elena Pereira8 Jemima Browne, Paris Canturi9 Mia Rappazzo, Carlin Tia10 Gauri Aerry, Catherine NguyenSenior (11) Caroline Nguyen, Megan LloydSenior (12) Chloe Rose Anastasio, Emily Kleiner, Gizel Ruiz, Alyssa Tuddenham

LAMP BEARERSImra Banu and Vyvy Nguyen

Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

Cambodia - Mercy in ActionOn March the 25th we have 10 students and 2 staff who are involved in the Mercy in Action - Cambodia 2017 immersion. We will be travelling with Mercy College and St Aloysius College. As a Catholic and Kildare Ministries school we seek to provide opportunities for our students and staff to live out our mission to be witnesses of Christ’s message to love one another. By acting to bring social justice to life in the world we can enhance awareness of the needs of others whilst also offering practical assistance to those in need. As part of the Asia Pacific area we, as Australians, are well placed to make a difference to the lives of some of our closest international neighbours.

Students and staff from the College will travel to Cambodia and work to raise awareness of social justice issues such as child abuse, homelessness, poverty and access to education. Participants will contribute their time and talents to alleviate these needs in the short term. The longer term intention will be to build and sustain empathy and action beyond the school years to contribute to the building of a more just and equitable world.

We will also be supporting Hagar, a worldwide organisation that has a branch in Cambodia, supporting women and children who have been rescued from the sex trade. We will be supporting the work of Sr Denise Coghlan (a Sister of Mercy) who works with very disadvantaged families and refugees in Siem Reap. Every student who is taking part in the immersion has fully funded their trip. Any financial support from our community will ensure we can make a real difference to the lives of many in Cambodia.

HOUSE BUILD PROJECT – THROUGH THE TABITHA FOUNDATION$2000 covers the cost of a house, a water source and the balance goes to supporting families on the Tabitha Savings program. The impact of volunteer building teams on poor rural Cambodian families is life changing and it also provides volunteers with an experience of a lifetime. We need your help so we can build houses for some of the poorest families in Cambodia. Even the smallest donation will be appreciated. Please go to http://tabithaaustralia.org.au/edonates/form and select the Mercy College Coburg housebuilding team to make a donation. You are also able to nominate an individual you are supporting. All money donated goes directly towards the housebuilding program.

If you would prefer to donate either goods or services, or a gift certificate we would love to hear from you. If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact Jenny May Wilson via email (jwilson@mariansw.catholic.edu.au) or call 93631711.

An extended thank you to Dr Michelle Cotter, the Principal of Mercy College, and Ms Michelle McNamara for the invitation to join this amazing and worthy project.

Marian News A Community growing in Faith & Love • Serving Others • Striving to Achieve • Thinking for the Future

Performing Arts Co-Curricular ProgramsLessons, choirs, band and ensembles were set up last week, and this week we are starting try-outs and or/rehearsals. We are delighted at the enthusiasm of both new and returning students.

Captains and Leaders have been appointed and are meeting to plan combined activities for the term and semester. These are designed to give students from all ensembles a chance to meet each other and bond over our shared love of music and drama.

Rehearsals have started in preparation for the 60th Anniversary Mass, and we are looking forward to celebrating this milestone in our community’s life.

Mari Eleanor - Music and Drama Programs Co-ordinator

LOTEINDONESIANSelamat datang ke Kelas 7 Bahasa Indonesia

Welcome to Year 7 Indonesian class.

Students in Indonesian classes have been learning ways to introduce themselves and greet each other. Students can now greet each other in Indonesian, say their name and state where they come from.

Students can also say the alphabet and numbers 1-10 in Indonesian.

Students will continue to learn about the hobbies they enjoy and activities they dislike.

Selamat Belajar!

Good luck with your studies.

ScienceNATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE FORUM- CANBERRA 2017As a Year 12 student, I can testify to the fact that I am extremely blessed and honoured for the privilege of having attended the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra during January this year. It was an unforgettable experience that I will forever cherish.

The National Youth Science Forum is a remarkable program designed for the scientifically minded youth. The program provides insightful information about different careers in science and fields that an average individual wouldn’t have the chance to experience. The Summer Forum was an intense 2 week program where we were constantly on the go- visiting labs and going to lectures pertaining to the different fields of science. We were also residing at the Burgmann College, which was great as we got to experience what it was like to live on campus.

It was such a joy to meet likeminded individuals from all around Australia and getting the chance to make friendships that will last a lifetime, was so much fun. The connections that I have made during the NYSF are priceless.I would strongly recommend anyone and everyone who is remotely interested or passionate about Science to attend the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra. It is a once in a lifetime experience that you will not regret.

Lastly, I would like to thank Wyndham and Werribee Rotary for sponsoring this program- without them I could never have made it this far. Also, I would like to thank my school, Marian College for supporting me in my application and Ms Suzanne Matejin for her undying support.

Trisha Razon (Year 12 student)