Student Leadership

WAAM & College captains Report

This term has been ‘JJAMM’ packed. Liv and I have been busy behind the scenes organising the fun filled activities for JJAMM week, including inviting our friend from JJAMM leadership camp, Luke Williams to speak to the MSJ girls about his charity ‘Lend a Hand to Hugo’. Luke is a College Captain from a Tasmanian Josephite school and is a great young leader and role model. His organisation, 'Lend a Hand to Hugo' is a Tasmanian based, registered not-for-profit charity on a journey to better the lives of those affected by Autism. The session focused on removing the stigma placed around disability and focusing on enabling rather than labelling. We also chatted about the " r word" and the negative effects this holds on an individual or someone who even may know someone who is affected with disability. The girls were incredible and really took a lot from the session Luke ran with us. We are looking forward to some exciting upcoming activities in our final few weeks of high school and cannot wait to work with the SLT portfolio in doing so.

By Matilda Murrihy and Liv Kivlighon - College Co- Captains

Ministry Report

JJAMM week 2017 was definitely JAMpacked with lots of activities all throughout the week that saw the entire MSJ community celebrate the work of Mary Mackillop and those who supported her. It was kicked off with the annual jam donut eating competition, a loved celebration, that saw the competitive side come out of both students and staff. It was a great activity to start of the week. Feast Day was then celebrated the next day where the school community game together during mass in order to reflect on the goals and purpose of Mary Mackillop, and how we as young ladies, can epitomise her traits of kindness and generosity. Our annual fete was a major success this year with many stalls selling amazing food, drinks and prizes and all profits going towards the Mackillop Foundation. MSJ should definitely be extremely proud of their efforts in the set up and running of the carnival. Later on during the week, an impressive art show took place in the TWLC that exhibited beautiful pieces of paintings, sculptures and interpretations of the life of Mary Mackillop and Julian Tenison Woods. The pieces were created by the talented students of MSJ and it was amazing to see their reflection on JJAMM week.

On behalf of the Ministry Team, we’d like to thank all those involved in the planning of JJAMM week 2017 and to all the students for showing a great amount of enthusiasm in all of the activities held throughout the week.

By Celine Lopez - Ministry Captain

Arts Report

MSJ’s Got Talent 2017 was a great success, with over 35 auditions and 15 live performances running over 3 weeks. The final was held on Feast Day and  our judging panel included Miss Jolly, Mrs Curnow, Ms Tagell, Mr Trieu and Ms Taylor as well as the community of MSJ who all watched our talented performers ranging from acrobatics to Napoleon Dynamite impressions. Voting ran a little differently as the students of MSJ were also able to vote for their favourite acts online which helped choose our 5 finalists for our MSJ's Got Talent final on Feast Day – NOVA, Alexandra Janke, Jess and Sonia, Momentum and Hawi Ali. I would like to congratulate everyone who performed this year you were all a fantastic display of MSJ's Talent and congratulations to our winner Alexandra Janke.

On August 10 and 11, MSJ had its first Variety Night “Sideshow” – a series of acts ranging from ensemble numbers, band performances and drama ensembles to solo singers and dance troops. The show transformed the Mary MacKillop Centre into our own theatre with awesome lights and sound. We would like to thank all who were involved and especially congratulate Mrs O’Neill for putting it all together and putting on a phenomenal show.

On behalf of the Arts Portfolio I would like to thank  all of the MSJ community who have been involved in these events and have supported the organisation of these two huge projects.

By Madison Brown - Arts Captain

House Captains Report

Cameron House 

With the end of Term 3 fast approaching, the Cameron House girls were lucky enough to get together on Feast day, commemorating St Mary of the Cross Mackillop. Among the many fun filled activities of the day, us Cameron Girls were lucky enough to all get together and participate in many ‘get to know you’ games in which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with each other again, from all year levels. We’d also like to say a big congratulations to all the Cameron students who participated in the various activities held throughout JJAMM week and commend you on your efforts of participation in representing our house. Go Cameron!

By Courtney Rogers and Tiana Barrese  - House Captains

Penola House 

On August 8 MSJ held their annual Feast Day to commemorate St Mary the Cross MacKillop in which Penola house had the opportunity to participate in a range of different group and ‘get to know each other’ activities and games  in order for all the girls to get to become familiar with one another and encourage a stronger sense of community within Penola house. Later on in the day to raise money for the Mackillop Foundation, the Senior Penola homerooms held stores including a Raffle, a ‘Hotdog and Frappe’ stall and ‘Hot Chips’ which were all extremely successful! 7 Penola also held a sushi stall which sold out completely and raised a lot of money. Congratulations to all the girls for all the effort they put into Feast Day and raising money for the Mackillop Foundation.

By Leah Bednar and Erin Ryan  - House Captains

Providence House 

So far this term has been very busy, but successful for all house captains, especially Providence with their fundraiser for St. Vinnies. On 25 July, we held a fundraiser called “Donate for Deliciousness,” where we called for the students to bring in donations of old clothes, scarves, blankets and beanies in return for some delicious treats at our bake sale. The response was more than we could have imagined with an abundance of donations as well as over $200 in spare change from the students to also donate to St. Vinnies. Thank you to all who donated clothes, spare change and even towards our bake sale, your generosity will be much appreciated towards those less fortunate than ourselves.

We have also recently had JJAMM week where we celebrated Feast Day and the life of Mary Mackillop. It was a great week for all full of numerous engaging activities, talks, performances, Mass and of course the fete, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

By Jessica Vranes and Victoria Moustos - House Captains

Solomon House 

It has been a busy term for all house captains with many events and celebrations occurring around the college. August 6 and 9, 2017 marks the 72 year anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in World War II. Many lives were lost and to this day, there are many families who still mourn the loss of their loved ones due to this tragedy. As a way to commemorate the lives that were destroyed by the bombings and also to promote peace, Solomon house created an activity for Junior Year levels to participate in a prayer that acknowledges peace and unity. The students were asked to make as many paper cranes as they could to show the need for peace and harmony in our world. These cranes are a symbol of tranquillity and they will be displayed in the college to remind members of the MSJ community that we need to acknowledge the need for peace and unity in our world and encourage change to make our world a better place.

Also this term, MSJ celebrated the Feast Day of Mary MacKillop. Feast day was a great opportunity for year levels to work hard in producing their own stalls to collect money that will go towards those who need it most. We all celebrated mass to remember the selfless work Mary MacKillop did for the poor and were reminded of the little things we can do in our own lives to follow in her footsteps.

By Jess Sinclair and Paige Maynard-Buckler - Solomon House Captains