From the Desk of the Principal

Thought for the Week

God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings, not endings.  Just as graduations are not terminations, but commencements.  Creation is an ongoing process, and when we create a perfect world where love and compassion are shared by all, suffering will cease.  

Bernie Siegel

Dear Parents and Carers, Staff and Students, and Friends of Mount Alvernia College

I have just returned to my desk from a Year 12 Assembly where plans for all things associated with the end of the year were being discussed.

I spoke to the students about the mixed emotions they and I are having at the moment with the prospect of moving on from the close community of Mount Alvernia and going out into a world that has fewer protections from life’s vagaries, and that we will now all need to manage without this level of Franciscan support.

I also spoke about the importance of ending well and making sure that they show gratitude for all the things – large and small - that have been gifted to them over the past six years. 

These young people are a very special group and it will be with some trepidation and a lot of sadness that we say goodbye in a few short weeks. 

In this edition of News and Views, there is a letter to parents about plans for the Celebration of Excellence that is happening in two weeks.  In the time of COVID restrictions, we are doing our best to ensure that we can still celebrate all those who are achieving well and that this celebration is available to the whole community.  I am grateful to Ms Kerry Jell and Mrs Robyn Ovenden, who have made this celebration possible, and to everyone else who contributed to the process. 

It is clearly the end of the year as the jacarandas are starting to bloom once again and, after many years’ absence, External Exams are just a few weeks away.  The carpets of purple will soon be evident on our roads and footpaths.  Once again, nature is showing us that life is a cycle and that life goes on, no matter what.

Over the weekend, it was the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi.  We are really blessed to have the example of St Francis, 'the Poor Man of Assisi', to guide us through what has been a very 'interesting' year.

Thanks, as always for your loyal support of all that we do at the College.

Pax et bonum

Kerrie Tuite

(tuitk@staff.mta.qld.edu.au)