Founders Day

(photos supplied by Naim Abdelahad, Stephanie Flechsig, Priya Cardinaletti and The Year 9 Media Crew.)

In 1958, on 4 February, Brother Amedy Molloy of the De La Salle Brothers, enthusiastically walked into a one classroom school with about 60 boys and began to teach.  He was soon joined by other De La Salle brothers and lay teachers and over the next decade, eventually in association with the Presentation Sisters (who arrived in Dandenong in 1912) the number of students grew rapidly.  The school became known as St John’s Regional College and its motto is Courage Reaches for the Stars (Virtus in astra tendit).

Brother Amedy’s pioneering educational vision and the vision of the great men and women who have led and taught at St John’s was celebrated yesterday.  In 2018 St John’s Regional College is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee.  Gathered around the symbols of the Presentation Sisters and De La Salle Brothers, students – current and past, parents, staff – current and past and several Sisters and Brothers celebrated 60 great years of Catholic Education in Dandenong.

St John’s continues to embrace the pioneering vision of Brother Amedy and those who followed him through the vast opportunities it provides for its students.  Whether it be a full academic course of study or a vocational pathway; whether it be a variety of extra-curricular activities or the opportunity to feed one’s soul, St John’s sees its students at the centre of its core business which educates the human being – body, soul and intellect.  This has been the case since St John’s opened its doors in 1958 and then, more broadly in 1977 when the entire college was made co-educational.

Since that time the education of young men and women in the Dandenong area and now including feeder Primary Schools from Doveton, Endeavour Hills, Hampton Park, Noble Park North, Keysborough and Dandenong, has been celebrated through the many ex students who have gone on in the world with a courage that reaches for the stars. 

Whether it those who have moved to fame or those who have lived a full life, the staff and students of St John’s, along with their families, for the past 60 years have not only graced the Greater Dandenong Area but the various parts of the world they have found themselves.  For that, and for the past 60 years, we give joyful thanks.

John Rhynehart, Director of Faith and Mission.