Community
IDAHOBIT day
by Kate Ellis, teacher of Drama and English
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia was 17 May.
As a show of support for our rainbow brothers and sisters, Emily Nancarrow and I organised a day of celebration for our community. Some people chose to dress in rainbow colours to show their support, others hugged their rainbow friends or stood in line to get their faces painted. Some Home Group teachers added personal touches to the morning… drawing rainbows and making armbands. The community spirit was thriving. I think our faces in the group photo say it all.
For anyone looking for more information and ways to support, Minus 18 has some great resources: https://www.minus18.org.au
Evie's mega swim
by John Collins, MYP Coordinator and History teacher
Monday morning, period 1, Year 11 History. My Year 11s walk into class ready and raring to go, bursting with enthusiasm for a new week of learning. Except one. She comes in, puts her head on the desk and utters a barely audible moan when I ask her how she’s going. And then I remember what she did on the weekend. This wasn’t a case of partying too hard, or even of burning the midnight oil to study, this was something of greater consequence - on Saturday 19 May Evie Harrod participated in the MS 24 Hour Mega Swim.
The MS 24 Hour Mega Swim is a team relay event where teams have a swimmer in the water for the entire 24 hours and compete for laps swum and money raised, in support of people living with multiple sclerosis.
Evie raised $1035 and her team, around $6000. In total, the event raised around $40,000. She swam about 11km over a 24 hour period, swimming in half-hour blocks with swim times stretching from 2pm Saturday through to midday on Sunday. She swam at midnight. She swam at 3am. She swam at 4.30am. What were you doing on Sunday morning? Evie was swimming. At about 10am, I was having my second breakfast - poached eggs and salmon on toast I think. Evie was still swimming.
I asked her what she thought the hardest part was. “Having the energy to keep going.” She managed to get about two hours sleep over the course of the night, in between swimming and fuelling up on pasta and Snakes. So it stood to reason that while her classmates were their usual bouncy selves, Evie was feeling a little less excited about the prospect of being awake. “Mum wouldn’t let me stay home!” she said.
Evie logged this experience as part of her CAS programme in the IB Diploma. CAS is at the heart of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. With its holistic approach, CAS is designed to strengthen and extend students’ personal and interpersonal learning. CAS is organised around the three strands of creativity, activity and service.
One of Evie’s CAS goals was that she would like to keep up all her sports throughout the year. This is an important part of the establishment of the CAS programme so students keep a balance, of a range of activities, alongside their studies. Too often students give up everything to focus on their studies. Service is quoted as being one of the most transforming elements of the CAS programme promoting their own self-awareness and opportunities for international mindedness.
“So Evie, would you do it again?”
“Definitely!”
For more info on the MS 24 Hour Mega Swim see https://www.msmegaswim.org.au/