CAPTAIN'S CORNER

SENIOR CAPTAIN

As always, the McKinnon Calendar has been super busy and exciting this term with so many different events happening, as our third term starts to wrap up. From the perspective of a Year 12, this has definitely been an academically challenging term finishing up our final area of studies for the year and heading into Exam Revision, but nevertheless there’s always a chance to step away from it all, through sport! 

There’s been some recent success in the sporting area, and I’m so proud to say that the Senior Girls Football Team have achieved Runners Up in the state, beating hundreds of other schools and continuing to stay competitive and driven for weeks of competition. As a member of the team myself, it truly was a special atmosphere to be a part of, it is so great to see girls’ footy so warmly celebrated and appreciated by our friends, family and school community, and this achievement is definitely a long way from where we have placed in previous years. 

In other news, the Year 12s have also been busy preparing for our final weeks of school. Time has absolutely flown by and the planning for the annual Year 12 Assembly is underway! Thanks to the guidance of our amazing committee of students, skits are being filmed, bands are rehearsing, and baby photos are being recreated. All the Year 12s are very excited to see the final product, after weeks of work, and finish our time here at McKinnon as Class of 2024 with a bang. 

Gisele Hennequin, Year 12

JUNIOR CAPTAIN

As the term nears its end, I cannot help but reflect and reminisce. With all the electives spurring on, Mission to Mars has not failed to disappoint. At first, like all electives, I had some trepidations, an elective solely about Mars! Wouldn’t that get tedious. I had been wrong however, as it was anything but. 

I cannot possibly understate the efforts Mr VP (Van Pelt) went in order to capture our attention. I had heard people thought of him as a great teacher, but in person he truly does not disappoint. It is often the crux of a good subject to have a not so good teacher, and to encounter a fascinating subject, and an even more engaging teacher, is something I will not take for granted.

Covering an array of topics such as forces, celestial bodies, and scale, Mr Van Pelt so compassionately orating at the wonders of the universe it had me inspired. Watching “To Scale: The Universe”, I had become entranced with this idea of representing a concept so large into something humans could understand and visualize. 

Beginning our first inquiry, we had aimed to build a water powered rocket, one which flies more than 40 metres in the air. We feverishly planned, so determined to execute the launch there should be nothing left to chance. Every one of us waited in anticipation as we prepared the launch for the last week of term. 

VSSEC (Victorian Space Science Education Centre) is a cutting-edge facility where the Mission to Mars elective travelled to next. Our roles had been assigned prior, able to choose from geochemist, geophysicist, geologist, engineer and commander. Two groups had been formed, one sat in the cushy Mission Control, as the other trekked the hostile terrain of Mars. Mission Control constantly relayed information, whilst astronauts began to take samples, measuring temperatures, and scanning for radioactivity. As you went through the day, you demonstrated and learned skills of problem solving, having to solve paramount questions in a moment's notice. 

Mission to Mars has been an elective which fully encompasses the wonders of Physics, and outer space. As the term comes to a close, I ponder what Mission to Mars will bring in Term 4, but whatever it is, I will meet it elated and prepared for the challenges it will throw.

Mateo Capurro Martinez, Year 9