Year 9 CLC Program

High Praise has flooded in again for the kids in our Year 9 CLC program, after their 5th and 6th weeks of their Volunteering Project.

The girls at the Wangaratta & District Specialist School (Zoe Taurega-Green, Sharni Hepworth and Meagan Young) have drawn plaudits from multiple staff down there, working with kids in classrooms as well as helping to set up the school’s new library. They’ve been described as being “outstanding helpers” and “terrific with the kids.” 

Our team visiting Iloura Aged Care Home (Alec Armstrong, Hamish Tanner, Stevie Driscoll & Luke Macklan) have again returned home with anecdotes of powerful moments shared with the elderly. One highlight involved a Choir Ensemble visiting to entertain the residents, with Luke Macklan joining the Choir and singing along. That’s certainly an all-time CLC first - a Boxer singing in a Choir at an Aged Care Home.

Our Make A Wish Foundation of Jorja Vanbree, Hunter Boruch & Teagan Stewart have been busy creating more fundraising items and trinkets to sell at an upcoming market, aiming to add to their fundraising tally so far for their wonderful cause.

Our Inner Wheel/Carevan crew (Markus Mibini, Emily McMurray, Jaymie Law, Lia McKeown & Tayla Newton) have continually worked hard cooking and making meals for the Carevan to hand out for free to the Homeless community, and our Wangaratta Night Shelter group (Dylan Hooper, Maddy Drage & Zierra Melbourne) have done a great job cooking and making various items as well.

Wonderful scenes too down at Wangaratta West PS with close to 20 of our kids working in various groups. The Grounds Crew (Levi Smith, Seth Williams, Jayden Laxton, Brando Moore, Ryley Yorke, Noah Simmons & Sam Magri) have continued their massive job of sanding & oiling the many outdoor wooden tables, and showing resilience working through the heat in Week 6. Those passing by the front of the school will also notice a cleaner-than-ever footpath, after the boys scraped off multiple wheelbarrow loads of caked up dirt and debris. Inside, our Classroom Helpers (Aurelio McIllroy, Ethan Rhodes, Marcus Iley & Zoe Jeffries) are being described by teachers as "outstanding with the kids" in their respective Prep classrooms.

Our two P.E Helper Crews (Gus Jayet, Kade Hadley, Billy Hiskins, Sonny McCormack, Lachy Pensak, Jackson Bell, Jayla Keys, Xavi Bennett, Parker Lappin and Callem Box-Corsini) have again enthralled the youngsters on the Sport Courts. It’s somewhat comical watching some of our most strapping and masculine lads juxtaposed against their tiniest Preps. Newmo captured one moment with Billy Hiskins tapping my own daughter (the smallest Prep at the school) on the head during Duck-Duck-Goose and she chasing him around the circle. One of many such moments replayed to parents at Dining Tables around town.

Sonny McCormack proved a standout after joining the P.E Helpers group this fortnight. One of the most charismatic kids we’ve ever seen come through the High School, Sonny instantly became King Of The Kids, being swarmed by Preps literally hanging off him. Sonny this week was seen teaching one of the Prep boys how to handshake, and then after the P.E class finished, the Preps dragged him back to their classroom, where he was later found, his knees squeezed under the tiny table, sitting with a Prep girl sincerely helping her with her Story Writing work. Like Jackson “Jimi” Tilly last year, Sonny has something special about him that the little kids just gravitate to. Hilarious and powerful.

We thank Kristy and the Wang West PS team for hosting so many of our kids every Wednesday, and being so cool about it. It’s quite staggering to witness how calm and orderly you have everything running down there, and It’s not hard to see why you won a State Award a couple of weeks ago.

Next week will be the final week of volunteering, and then the groups will begin putting together their End Of Semester Presentations, where they will present their achievements to an audience in the school PAC.

Thanks again kids, and to all of our great and generous community hosts.

• Jud Mullins