From the Desk of the Principal
Thought for the Week
“If you do not know your own dignity and condition, you cannot value anything at its proper worth.”
Saint Bonaventure
Dear Parents and Carers, Staff and Students, and Friends of Mount Alvernia College
Welcome to Term 3, my second last term at the College. By now most of you would have become aware that the incoming Principal for 2021 has been appointed. Ms Samantha Jensen, who is currently Deputy Principal at Loreto, Mandeville Hall, in Melbourne, will begin as Principal at the start of 2021.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to meet with Ms Jensen in person, given her current location, but the College Leadership Team has met her via Zoom, and I have been communicating with her on the phone or via Zoom. The current plan, COVID-19 permitting, is for her to meet the college community on our Feast Day Celebrations at the end of this term. I know that you will all make her welcome. She is very excited about the years ahead and I am confident that, with the current Leadership Team and staff, she will be able to move Mt A in the most appropriate direction from 2021.
While Ms Jensen is excited about joining our FOTH community, this is not always the way some of our neighbours feel. Just today, I had an email from a neighbour who was “excited” by the driving habits of parents when they were collecting their students. This person indicated that she had been verbally abused when she tried to drive in or out of her driveway. As a FOTH community, we pride ourselves on treating each other with respect and dignity, valuing everyone equally. This story attempts to make this point.
Once upon a time, a juggling clown came to a village. The clown went from town to town, earning a little money from his show. In that village he began his act in the square. While everyone was enjoying the show, a naughty boy started to make fun of the clown, telling him to leave the village. The shouts and insults made the clown nervous, and he dropped one of his juggling balls. Some others in the crowd started booing because of this mistake, and in the end the clown had to leave quickly.
He ran off, leaving four of the juggling balls. But neither the clown nor his juggling balls were in any way ordinary. During that night, each one of the balls magically turned into a naughty boy, just like the one who had shouted the insults - all except one ball, which turned into another clown. For the whole of the next day, the copies of the naughty boy walked around the village, making trouble for everyone. In the afternoon, the copy of the clown started his juggling show, and the same thing happened as the previous day. But this time, there were four naughty boys shouting, instead of one. Again, the clown had to run off, leaving another four balls behind.
Once more, during the night, three of those balls turned into copies of the naughty boy, and one turned into a clown. And so the same story repeated itself for several days, until the village was filled with naughty boys who would leave no one in peace. The village elders decided to put an end to all this. They made sure that none of the naughty boys would disrespect or insult anyone. When the clown's show began, the elders prevented the boys even making a squeak. So the clown managed to finish his show, and could spend that night in the village.
That night, three of the copies of the naughty boy disappeared, and the same happened until only the clown and the original naughty boy remained.
The boy, and everyone in the village, had been shown just how far they could go. From then on, instead of running visitors away, that village made every effort to make sure that visitors would spend a nice day there. The villagers had discovered just how much a humble travelling clown can teach with his show.
Have a great week, and thanks as always for your support.
Pax et bonum
Kerrie Tuite
(tuitk@staff.mta.qld.edu.au)