Hospitality in Action at 

Marian College, Ararat

As a Kildare Ministries school in the Brigidine tradition, Marian College Ararat emphasises community engagement through service as a core expression of our values. Our college fosters a caring and inclusive environment, encouraging students to contribute positively to society. We know that our world can sometimes be witness to division and isolation and we are committed not only to providing a challenging educational environment of learning and personal growth, but also to empowering our young people to become part of a generation responsible for bringing positive change to our world.

One of our goals this year is to look for further opportunities to engage with our community, particularly through service. Recently, four of our students, Eleanor Sladdin, Ellie Preston, Grace Wheeler and Stella Fratin volunteered at the East Grampians Health Service Residents' Support Group fundraiser, a special screening of The Salt Path at the Astor Theatre. We are very proud of the professional, friendly and caring way they conducted themselves through service - they were wonderful ambassadors for our school and demonstrated so clearly our theme of ‘Hospitality’.

There are also opportunities for our students to get involved in different kinds of service at school. Year 9 student, Tom Machin has been working in the Canteen this term during lunch and recesses and has been of invaluable assistance to our Canteen staff. Our Vocational Major students run ‘Corner Cafe’ every Thursday and make coffee and toasties to order, with all the proceeds going towards ‘BlazeAid’. Last term our Senior Leaders started an initiative to engage with St Mary’s Primary school with Friday Funday, where they take their lunch across to St Mary’s and spend time with the younger students. This is such a joy to behold and is wonderful, not only for the primary students but the ‘big kids’ as well. In Term 2 and 3 our Year 11 students will also have the opportunity to be part of the Friday Fundays.

Marian College has a wonderful Justice and Democracy (J&D) student group. From the J&D group came the idea for Breakfast Club and our school has received extremely generous support from a number of Ararat businesses so that we can provide breakfast to students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students are also involved in the breakfast preparation and service, along with organising the collection of cans as another way to support J&D initiatives.

We also have a group of students engaging in a Little STEMS program, which is an initiative from our STEM HUB where Marian students share their knowledge with younger students at primary school. Currently they are working with students at St Patrick’s in Stawell and are having a fantastic time. We appreciate the support of the Ararat RSL in providing the resources for this program.

Looking forward, in September, Year 12 student Jai Smith will participate in the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb, a challenging event where he will ascend 28 floors of the Crown Metropol Hotel in full firefighter gear, weighing up to 25 kilograms. This amazing physical challenge is also a commitment to raising awareness and funds for causes that deeply impact our community. 

We will continue to encourage our students to look for ways they can support and serve our community, especially in this our year of Hospitality. The late Pope Francis spoke about the value of caring for others when he said, “Life is good when you are happy, but much better when others are happy because of you”.