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Newsletter

young women doing fantastic work overseas

2019

SACOSA

Interested in joining the SACOSA Committee?

We meet approximately four times a year and much of our communication between events is done via email. There is not a heavy workload associated with SACOSA committee membership. Join us to keep the association running!

For more details please contact:

Chris Adams: 0412 510 892

Gisela Hamel: 0412 312 769

Catherine George: 0429 836 825

Stacey Parker: 8217 3200

Young women of mercy on the streets of Siem Reap

On the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia, the 2018 World Challenge team bumped into two Old Scholars, Clare Peterson (Class of 2017) and Gaby Kinsman (Class of 2010). Clare and Gaby were in Siem Reap working with Young Mercy Links in a building project with Sr Denise Coghlan and Sr Meredith Evans. Young Mercy Links is a group of young graduates from mercy schools who aim to continue works of mercy beyond school. The SAC girls were thrilled to see such inspirational young women doing fantastic work overseas!

YOUNG MERCY LINKS IN ACTION https://www.facebook.com/youngmercylinkssa/

Check out our informational video to find out more about us

https://vimeo.com/310254069

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Old scholar Carla Conlin (Class of 2000) was hoping to redefine the term ‘plus-size model’ when she took to the stage at the Australian Supermodel of the Year competition at Bali in February.Carla competed in the ‘Curve’ category of the event and said it’s important to promote body diversity in the industry.“It takes a bit of mental resilience when you’re the biggest person in a casting with all the size 6-8 models and getting lots of rejections from people who think they want a curve model but then book a size 10 to be safer,” said Ms Conlin, whose big break came in 2012 when she was hand-picked by burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese to launch her lingerie line in Melbourne.“I still face challenges, like at the moment being told I’m too small for a lot of brands that book plus size and then too big for a lot of the regular brands."

Body Positivity carla conlin redefining the term ‘Plus-size model’

Source: Antimo Iannella, Adelaide Confidential, The Advertiser, February 7, 2019

“This is good opportunity to make a positive difference and talk about why

body diversity is important.”

high achieversMaria Positano (Class of 2014), who is studying for a Bachelor of Media and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Adelaide, has been awarded a 2019 New Colombo Plan Scholarship to study and intern in China next year. The New Colombo Plan Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving students who have demonstrated proven commitment to forging a long-term relationship with the Indo-Pacific region. Maria, an aspiring international lawyer with a keen interest in Australia-China relations, will study Chinese business law and Mandarin language studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Maria is also a Pricewaterhouse Coopers scholar and will undertake a legal internship in their Shanghai office.

Bridie Squire (Class of 2018) was awarded a Governor's Commendation and achieved two Merits in Biology and English. As the SRC President, Bridie has generously supported and represented the College in a broad range of events, and spoken publicly at many of them. In 2018, Bridie presented a reflection on her Mercy Pilgrimage to Dublin to the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia as part of school visits at the national conference. Bridie has played for the College’s netball, volleyball, touch football and inaugural AFL football teams, and is a member of the Kathleen Short ballet school and the Adelaide University soccer team.

Maria Positano (Class of 2014)

Bridie Squire (Class of 2018)

Tegan Brink (Class of 1996)

Tegan Brink (Class of 1996) is currently Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations. Captured below is Tegan addressing the UN Security Council in 2018.

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Joint 70th Birthdays celeBrations

Any class of ’65 old scholars are invited to email Jenni Gay on

jrgay@iprimus.com.au for news re our two coffee mornings each year!

The Class of ’65 organised a high tea to celebrate their joint 70th birthdays last year. A lovely time was had by all!

Planning a Reunion?

Let us know!If you’re planning a reunion

in 2019, let us know!

We’d love to see what we can help with.

It will also enable us to pass on the details to Old

Scholars making enquiries regarding their reunion.

Email the details to: sacosa@sac.sa.edu.au

A Ministry of Mercy Education Ltd

53 Wakefield Street, Adelaide SA 5000Tel 8217 3200 | registrar@sac.sa.edu.au | www.sac.sa.edu.au

St Aloysius College

SCHOOL TOUR Tuesday 21 May 2019, at 10am

SCAN QR CODE FOR SAC VIDEO!

iPhone: Scan QR code Android: Download QR Code Reader

ELC to Year 12 City School for Girls • Hear about our outstanding academic record and

exceptional pastoral care.

• Visit our city school with its easy access to Adelaide’s educational resources.

• Meet our teachers and hear how they provide engaging, contemporary learning experiences for young people.

• Tour our facilities which include a gymnasium, two full-sized indoor basketball courts and a heated swimming pool.

• Come and see our new Science laboratories, and hear about our success in encouraging girls to pursue STEM pathways at school and beyond.

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‘women in stem’

2019 daughters, granddaughters & nieces of old scholars

Two of our Year 10 Science classes participated in a ‘Women in STEM’ program promoted by the South Australian Tourism Commission in connection with the Superloop Adelaide 500 and guided by old scholar Lucy Davis (Class of 2009). The focus was to raise awareness of the wide variety of possible career pathways and roles in motor sport that interconnect Mathematics, Science and Technology. Students understood the importance of developing skills such as collaboration, cooperation, good communication and flexible thinking in order to be successful in these fields.

All Responsible Facebook Users: Become a fan of the official SAC fan page.

To do this, simply search ‘St Aloysius College’, choose the one with the logo as shown and click ‘Like’. You will then be able to view all recent posts, relevant links and photos. You’ll be kept up to date

with student achievements, upcoming events and more!

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2018year 12 results

The Merit Ceremony at Government House on Tuesday 4 February was a suitably formal way to acknowledge the achievements of students across the state who achieved Merit Awards in at least one SACE Stage 2 subject. To see our graduates recognised in this way is always a privilege. Role models and mentors are valuable assets in a Reception to Year 12 learning environment. The Dux Assembly at the College this year gave us the opportunity to recognise the strong modelling provided by our recent graduates and nurture the aspirations of our current students. There is no doubt that the young women

A proud moment for students, families and staff of the College at Government House celebrating the wonderful achievements of the Class of 2018

who returned to the College on Monday 11 February for this assembly are an inspiration to the students following in their footsteps. Their energy and sense of purpose was clearly on display. Whether they’re heading for a gap year to save money and explore the world, or moving straight on to tertiary studies, their positive outlook and self-confidence will take them far! We extended our congratulations as a whole school to the Class of 2018!

Congratulations to the Class of 2018, all their families and teachers.

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Good morning staff, students, old scholars and families. What an honour it is to be speaking to you all today at this special assembly. I would like to start by acknowledging the members of the SAC community that played a role, no matter how small, in helping not only myself but all Year 12s to reach our full potential over the years that we have spent at SAC. In particular, I would like to thank my Year 12 teachers, who I could always rely on for their unwavering support, guidance and understanding. Thank you for always believing in me. And of course, I say thank you to the students. Each and every one of you. Whether you were part of my primary basketball team, who put up with my bad jokes and non-stop yelling from the side-lines, a friendly face at JAM, or one of the many hundreds of kids who asked me if I am in fact Mrs Eaton’s daughter. (The answer is yes.) The relationships that we have formed, the can sculptures we have tried to build, the acts of mercy that we have undertaken to spread a little love and hope… these are my fondest memories of SAC. We are a community, one that has the passion, power and drive to do incredible things. So whilst a lot of the school day is spent in the classroom, it is taking part in social justice, sport, musicals and the many other offerings here at SAC, that memories are made. It is doing these collaborative and challenging activities that you learn the most about the world, and about yourself. And so before I go any further, I would like to wish the Class of 2019 every success in your final year of school; I am sure that you will embrace every opportunity that this year brings, and that you will live compassionately, selflessly and mercifully to represent SAC with pride. In saying that, I would now like to reflect upon my own experience at school, and my perspective on the idea of success.Let’s start with a personal anecdote; which, for those interested, is a highly persuasive literary technique. I was playing tennis soon after the release of Year 12 results, when my coach asked me for my single best piece of advice when it comes to doing well at school. That was my opportunity to say something motivational, uplifting and inspiring, but honestly, my answer was pretty lame. Let’s just say that it had something to do with the fact that I had a strict bedtime of 7.40pm throughout the entirety of Year 12. Shockingly, my coach did not laugh or even cry for me. Rather, he said, “That takes grit.” But what is grit? When I think of grit, I think of someone clenching their teeth together, but actually it’s a lot more complex than that. “Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals. It is the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and persevere when you face obstacles.” This comment from my coach got me thinking about this idea of grit, and so I went home and watched a TED Talk all about it. Pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth justified that “Doing well in life and school depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily. Being naturally smart and talented is great, but to do truly well and thrive, we need the ability to persevere.” So what does this mean for you as students? Or you as teachers? It means that we have to be willing to fail and make mistakes. In fact I was even eliminated in the first round of the Spelling Bee in Year 6 for misspelling ‘gymnasium.’ It doesn’t sound that bad until

you realise that the competition was held in the school gym, with the word ‘gymnasium’ written in capitals above my head. And, ironically my mum is a PE teacher. But it was this monumentally embarrassing mistake that acted as the catalyst for personal growth and change. And together, this proved to be the ultimate recipe for success. Up until this point in my schooling career I was somewhat able to rely on natural talent and having two teachers as parents to maintain my good grades. Sure, it was nice to receive As in my report card, but I didn't experience that fulfilling sense of self-satisfaction from knowing that I’d tried my very best. When I started working more and gossiping less, spending time explaining concepts to my peers and being a hands-on learner, that was when I discovered my love of learning. “Without grit, talent may be nothing more than unmet potential. It is only with effort that talent becomes a skill that leads to success.” And even though I will probably never again use the formula for the area of a trapezium, you never know, it might just save my life one day. Courage, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, is to “Do something that scares you everyday.” Courage is like a muscle, for it to grow you must exercise it daily. Have courage to step into the unknown, to take a risk, and the resilience to get back up and try again, despite the obstacles you encounter along the way. Gritty people believe that “Everything will be alright in the end, and if it is not alright, it is not the end.” So when my tennis coach asked me to give him advice on being successful, little did he know that one small 4-letter-word could change how I perceive and respond to challenges for the rest of my life. And I can only hope that one of you can take this word of wisdom as you continue on your life journey, wherever that may take you. The moral of the story? No, you don’t need to go to bed at 7.40pm every night to do well in Year 12. Nor do you need to know how to spell gymnasium- there’s spellcheck for that. You just need courage, perseverance and a whole lot of grit.So, what are you waiting for? Go get gritty. Thank you.

what are you waiting for? go get gritty.

Lucy Eaton (Dux of 2018)

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We also want to hear your stories!Let us know what you have been doing since leaving SAC.

Whether it is success in your career or personal achievements we want to hear them. Send your news along with a recent image of yourself to:

sacosa@sac.sa.edu.au

SAC Old Scholar Alex Procter (Class of 2012) has been awarded the prestigious Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship. It’s not the first scholarship/award she has won during her studies. It’s inspiring that her study connects strongly with social justice & equity! We congratulate Alex for her important work focusing on improving the lives of vulnerable children as she undertakes a PhD in Public Health. “I am passionate about the health and development of children and believe that as a society, we have a responsibility to ensure every child has the best start to life,” says Alexandra.“My fascination with the association between health and social determinants has led me to a research career. I enjoy the creativity in research and strive to find innovative solutions to complex problems.”She hopes the outcomes of her project will have important policy impacts, guiding future interventions to improve inter-generational transmission of welfare dependency in this state.Westpac Scholars Trust CEO Susan Bannigan says: “This is a prestigious scholarship program attracting some of Australia’s brightest and most innovative young leaders.”

Source: Ms Robyn MillsEmail: robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.auMedia and Communications OfficerThe University of AdelaideBusiness: +61 8 8313 6341Mobile: +61 410 689 084

Prestigious westPac future leaders scholarshiP Inspiring and strongly connecting social justice & equity

“My fascination with the association between health and

social determinants has led me to a research career. I enjoy the creativity in

research and strive to find innovative solutions to complex problems.”

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Old scholar Ms Maddie Kelly (Class of 2011) and Gemma Sisia, founder of the School of St Jude in Tanzania shared some wonderful African stories with our Year 2 students

We thank Gemma, Godwin and Maddie for inspiring us with the story of The School of St Jude

insPiring connections

Gemma Sisia, founder of the School of St Jude in Tanzania, visited us last week with recent graduate Godwin and our very own old scholar, Maddie Kelly. Maddie has been working at the school for almost two years, and was joined by another SAC graduate, Eithne Johnston (Class of 2009), in 2018. To have such a tangible connection with a school like St Jude’s, which has been fighting poverty through education since 2002, is an absolute privilege. We know that our students will be inspired to work hard at fundraising for the Walkathon and Mercy Day, knowing that the School of St Jude will be one of the beneficiaries of these funds. We congratulate one of the Year 11 Religious Education classes who, along with their teacher Ms Elizabeth Heuzenroeder, raised over $900 through a sausage sizzle. They presented the funds to Gemma at the assembly and were rightly proud to make a contribution to her outstanding work. We thank Gemma, Godwin and Maddie for inspiring us with the story of The School of St Jude.

Ms Paddy McEvoyPRINCIPAL

Proud and happy, Maddie (Old scholar), reunites with SAC staff and students

Year 1 student Gemma meets Godwin and Ms Maddie Kelly