Wellbeing - Middle School

Building our Legacy

Last Friday’s Middle School Assembly took a sharp focus on legacy building at the College. Ms Santiago presented the 2025 Year 8 and Year 9 Student Year Ambassadors. These students form part of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and work closely with the staff and fellow peers to enhance inclusivity and self-responsibility, deepen faith, and advance human dignity. We look forward to finalising Year Ambassadors for Year 7, 2025 in the near future and beginning the process of electing our Stage 3 Primary Leaders for 2025.

Intertwined within assembly was a musical performance by Dylan (Year 11) and Oscar (Year 6) Celegon who played a wonderful rendition of ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy. It was also the first opportunity for our newly elected 2025 College Captain, George Lahoud to address the Middle School. George spoke wonderfully about instilling a sense of pride. He tied in an analogy, linking back to ancient Greece, and a man named Theseus, son of Aegeus, the King of Athens. 

Here is a transcript of part of his address:

According to Greek mythology, at the time, Athens was defeated by a cruel King after a long-lasting war. This evil king requested that every nine years, Athens was forced to send seven young men and seven young women to a place called Crete, to be sacrificed in a deadly labyrinth, home to a fearsome creature known as the Minotaur. Theseus, seeing the injustice, couldn’t just stand by. He was determined to end the King’s reign of terror over his people, so he set sail for the labyrinth. With the aid of a girl named Ariadne, Theseus was able to navigate the maze of the labyrinth. Venturing deep within its twists and turns, where he finally confronted and defeated the Minotaur, restoring peace to his people. 

 

After sailing back, the Athenians rejoiced and were endlessly grateful to Theseus for the heroic thing which he had accomplished. And so, as a gesture of their gratitude, they preserved his ship as a great monument. But as the years passed, the once brand-new wooden planks of the ship began to rot. Over time the Athenians replaced each of these ruined planks one by one, until eventually, they had replaced every single part of the ship.

 

St Patrick’s College wasn’t always the school it is today, with our amazing buildings, thousands of students, and brilliant sporting facilities. It had humble beginnings all those many years ago. Just as Theseus’ ship changed piece by piece, so has our school, and so do we. Over the years, we’ve grown, we learn, and we change. Our thoughts evolve, our friendships deepen, and our experiences shape us as a community.

 

The essence of who we are remains. We carry with us the values, traditions, and spirit that define our school. The faces may change, the challenges may differ, but the bond we share and the culture we represent as part of this school remains strong and unbroken. You, sitting here today are a permanent part of this school’s history, and whether you like it or not, the time you spend here has a great effect on the school’s legacy.

 

Each year the responsibility of maintaining that culture is shared, and what I hope to encourage you to do, is think about how you contribute to our culture, so that we can each do our part in making our school environment as great as it can be.

George, and also Dr Lavorato in her address, inspired us to continue to shape our legacy, reflecting on the past and create our own chapter that we are proud of. A notion that I also strongly encourage in our Middle School students.

Alexandros Sinadinos 

Director of Middle School