Alumni

Pathways News – July & August 2021

Firbank Girls

Alumni students are doing a terrific job of getting on with their school-work, despite covid restrictions and changing schedules – they are practising resilience and flexibility and we are very proud of them!

Students and staff at Firbank helped Sheronica celebrate her birthday, Sammi visited and Buster the rabbit helped during lockdown.

Supporting transition for Year 7 students 

In Term 3 and 4, Annie and Rei from the Pathways Team will be visiting the Year 7 classroom, talking about transition to MITS Partner Schools. Lots of questions, and normal worries will be talked about.

Johnny Minjin’s Journey

With a population of just over 450, Nganmarriyanga or as it’s also known, Palumpa, is a small community 353kms south-west of Darwin along the Port Keats Road.  Since 2016 courageous young women and men have made the journey to Melbourne to be part of the MITS programme, including John Minjin.  John recalls that he did not know what to say when he was approached about the opportunity to go and although apprehensive at first, he put one foot in front of the other and began a new chapter in his life. 

Johnny graduates Year 12 this year and as one of MITS first graduates John’s journey with the Dinan family (John, Jacqueline, Jarryd, Matt and Michael) began in 2017. Since then the Dinan’s have forged enduring bonds with John’s family, spending time with them and being welcomed on to Country to gain an understanding of his physical and spiritual connection to the land.

From his first night in the home sharing dinner with his host brothers (Matt and Michael), to attending St Kevin’s College with them, his journey has been one of growth, challenges and new experiences. 

Jacqueline notes the change from a shy young boy on his first day at St Kevin’s to a confident young man standing up in front of his peers at school. 

They say it takes a village to raise a child and many people have supported Johnny in Melbourne, including his host family, who have provided a genuine safe and caring environment in Melbourne.  We all look forward to what the future holds for Johnny.

Alumni Boarding House

It has been an amazing start to term 3 at Alumni boarding house, everyone has been working extremely well with their studies especially considering they have been completing their online learning programs in between face to face learning. Over the last few weeks we have been enjoying Escape rooms, shopping trips, walks around Richmond, bike rides, painting, movie nights, fashion shows, scavenger hunts on Richmond Hill and earning dojo money for the ABH shop. 

We have enjoyed being back into RJFC games this term and hopefully we will get back into games in the coming weeks, as finals are approaching quickly. Serena kicked a bag of 5 goals in her teams massive 130 point win to put them into second spot of the ladder. It has been amazing to see their development over the season, considering that they have missed games due to holidays and lockdowns. 

It was with some sadness that we surprised Sammi (Pathways Coordinator) with a farewell pizza dinner last week, which everyone worked as a team to create a great evening for Sammi and there was lots of laughter in the house.  Sammi will continue working for MITS based in the NT.

Happy Birthday to Ciara and Leah who celebrated their birthdays while they were at home.