SUCCESS STORY

TANISH SINGH ROUNDS OFF A SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF OUTSTANDING CRICKET ACHIEVEMENT

As the school year draws to a close, once again Tanish Singh of Year 7 has displayed remarkable expertise and sportsmanship on the cricket pitch.

Tanish played a pivotal role in the under 12 State Championship last week, being named Captain of the Victorian State Team.

The team were due to play the finals in Shepparton but had to re-locate to Ballarat due to the recent floods. Undaunted, they performed brilliantly, led ably by Tanish to a final victory against New South Wales, securing the championship flag for Victoria.

McKinnon Secondary College extends congratulations to you on a superb 2022 innings Tanish. 

SUMMER THOMPSON – OUR YEAR 8 STUDENT INSPIRING CHANGE 

The AIME Program (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience) operates in 350 high schools Australia wide, engaging over 25,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Summer Thompson of Year 8 has been working hard on her contribution to the AIME Change Program – enacting change by creating consciousness around Indigenous culture. By telling her story with a beautiful artistic submission, Summer has engaged us all.

“My change project for 2022 is to tell the story of my Indigenous tribe, the Dhanghatti tribe, who believed that a rainbow serpent created a place where the Dhanghatti could meet, a meeting place, where those who lived or gathered there were surrounded by waterfalls in different shades of blue and where the sky met the earth, the Apsley Falls. 

My change project contributes positively to social change by bringing awareness to the Indigenous cultures around us, by painting a picture to hang up in my school for people to view, as it is an Indigenous dot painting and the more dot paintings around the school, the more people think about the Indigenous cultures around them”

Congratulations Summer. You’ve made a positive and welcome contribution to our whole school community.

ARWEN VERDNIK - OUR CLASS OF 2019 ALUMNI CONTINUES TO SHINE

McKinnon Volley Coach and past student, Arwen Verdnik received a Bronze medal at the Australian Volleyball League on Sunday 4 December. We are so proud of her. 

Well done, Arwen!

Once a member of the McKinnon family……. forever on our radar!

THE AUSTRALIAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA GAINS A MCKINNON STUDENT

Congratulations to violinist Jenny Jung (Year 11) who has been selected to play in the Australian Youth Orchestra. This is an amazing achievement. 

The competition for this opportunity is fierce, particularly among violinists and her success places Jenny in an elite crowd of young musicians.

We wish Jenny all the best for her future!

KARATE SUCCESS FOR KATYA BLUTMAN AND COOPER LAI

Katya Blutman of Year 8 and Cooper Lai of Year 7 have shown what years of hard work, practice and dedicated training can do. 

On Sunday both students were awarded a Black Belt in karate after an exhaustive 4-hour examination, including two hours of gruelling sparring. 

Katya and Cooper have been studying the art of karate for five years. They have been training intensively for the past few months to be at peak physical condition for the endurance element of Black Belt grading. Both needed to pass multiple points of fitness and show skill sets on the day in front of a panel of Shihan (Master Instructor - Head of Kando), Renshi (Assistant Master - Head of Hughesdale Kando) Sensei's and Sempai's and then continue to fight against their peers and judges.

On top of all this, one of their Sensei’s (Sensei Brent) is a class of 2013, McKinnon alumni student – Brent Kelly! 

Obtaining a Black Belt is a noteworthy milestone in any student’s training, and we applaud this outstanding achievement from Katya and Cooper. McKinnon wishes them both the very best as they continue their martial art journey.

Kelly Payne

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