From the Principal
Dear Killester Families,
Today we said farewell to the graduating class of 2020. Without doubt these young women will have stories to tell their children and grandchildren about their Year 12 experience. At our graduation ceremony on Thursday evening each Year 12 student was presented with a special gift from the College; a pearl necklace. Yesterday the symbolic reason for this gift was explained; pearls are formed in nature within an oyster shell, each pearl starts with a miniscule piece of 'grit', a tiny particle that enters the oyster shell. Over time the oyster creates layer upon layer of protective coating around the grit until a pearl forms. Each pearl is unique, with variations in colour, texture, shape and size, and each has its own individual beauty, very much like every single student at the College. Our Year 12 students were encouraged to reflect on what layers had helped to form around their 'grit'; we talked of family, friends, faith and, of course, the Killester community, that has helped form each superbly beautiful and unique pearl.
The Year 12 students have had to rely on a great deal of 'grit' this year, we talked too of the difference between grit and resilience. Resilience being the capacity to keep going when things are difficult or seemingly overwhelming, with 'grit' being the fire in your belly that forms your resilience. Particular mention was made of the ways in which the VCAL students have conducted themselves this year; most students have had to negotiate the unusual challenges of remote learning with one organisation; our VCAL students however have had to deal with their VET placements, their workplaces and of course with their school responsibilities. They have done a remarkable job in navigating their way through all three separate institutions, demonstrating again that VCAL requires a very substantial and important set of skills.
Our final school assembly is when we present the Year 12 students with a number of special awards; I congratulate the following students on their achievements:
Brigid Award: Cheska Yalung
Kildare Ministries Award: Kezzia Chan
ADF Long Tan Award: Tisha Barsenbach
ADF Future Innovators Award: Jaskeerat Kaur
Sportswoman of the Year: Leeah Nguyen
Melbourne University Scholarship Award: Jaskeerat Kaur
Civics Award: Leean Miranda
Community Service Award: Jiwanjot Dhillon
Kath Lawson Literary Award: Ayrissa Taing
Principal's Award: Mia Thomas
This year saw the introduction of the Resilient Learner Awards, I congratulate the following Year 12 students for their work in 2020:
Michayla Bayliss
Kezzia Chan
Sylvia Dao
Jiwanjot Dhillon
Olivia Garcia
Giselle Karaan
Jaskeerat Kaur
Doan Nguyen
Rosina Pachi
Ayrissa Taing
Mia Thomas
Aren Yalung
Alicia Carbone
Kaela Feldman
Gemma Nicolaci
Our celebrations were the culmination of a phenomenal amount of work by many staff at the College. I would like to thank every single staff member who spent countless hours ensuring our students were able to have faith-filled and appropriate ceremonies that were conducted safely with due consideration given to the importance of the occasion. Particular mention must go to Ms Loreto Cannon, Mr Peter Harte, Mr Peter O'Neill and Ms Luana Doko for their work in leading the many teams of people who assisted in a myriad of ways.
We are always proud of the young women of Killester and celebrate their achievements every year, however in 2020 all of our students have been simply remarkable; they have shown themselves to be young women of strength and kindliness that at times was well beyond what we would expect of their age and maturity. Along with their pearl necklace each graduating student was presented with a Brigidine cross, as our young woman leave the College they take with them tangible reminders of the fact that they will always be members of our Killester Community and they will always be held by us, and by God, as they strive to be young woman determined to make the world a richer place by their presence, we are certainly richer for having known them.
Ms Sally Buick
Principal