Living with Strength and Kindliness

It was with great excitement that we set about preparing for Glenn’s 25 years in Catholic Education back in Term 1.  It came as a great disappointment that we were no longer going to be able to celebrate this event as a result of the Covid-19 Restrictions.  There are plans for the celebration to take place next year but that seems too far away ….

So today we celebrate Glenn’s 25 years in Catholic Education and we celebrate his 40 year teaching career.

I wanted to share with you what I know about Glenn the teacher at St. Joseph’s over 25 years.

To me, Glenn has been a friend and a mentor. My great learnings come from our work together when he was the Faith and Ministry Leader.  He taught me that it was important to delve down into the depths of church teaching so that we can understand deeply what the messages for us are. He also taught me that scripture is deep and is couched in the depths of understanding culture, politics, history and human relations.  I moved into the role of Faith and Ministry Leader after Glenn, and we continued our work as a team where Glenn was the Pastoral Care Coordinator.  Again, there was much to learn as we wove the Catholic story in with the care of people in our community and built structures that allowed people to see that the love of church and the love and care of people was so intricately woven together.

As a man of faith, our Catholic school has certainly been a better place from the wise sage that is Glenn.  Our school is well-renowned and recognised for its commitment to justice.  Although there are many examples of Glenn’s contribution to a culture of social justice in this place I would suggest that Glenn would recognise one of his greatest achievements is our College’s East Timor Immersion.  The rich relationship that our school has nurtured with the people of East Timor is a hallmark of the way we teach the young people in our community about caring for the marginalised and the vulnerable.  It is an example of the ways that Glenn has influenced the character of the people who walk through our school gates.

I would suggest to you that our Year 12 Retreat program is a similar example.  Glenn played a very significant role in putting together and refining the Retreat schedule that is part of the Year 12 Faith Development program.  His preparedness to share his own life stories and to elicit from kids their meaningful life experiences have ensured that the Year 12 Retreat is one of the school experiences that our young people carry with them into their adult lives.

Another of the great things that I know and love about Glenn is that he is fun!  Over the years Glenn has never stopped short of being in a wide range of College events. He has appeared as a cameo in a wide range of school productions, he loves a good dress-up event (my favorite was when he was dressed as Carl Fredrickson in the beautiful movie ‘Up’ – the likeness is uncanny), he has run in the cross country and he demonstrates his love for Patrick House with many a splash of the color green in his attire.

I have had many many conversations with Glenn. The most important thing that he has ever told me about his career is that he loves it.  The word vocation is a very powerful one.  It has a very deep meaning for those who allow the cross over of their personal lives into their work lives so that it is very difficult to discern what is one and what is the other.  Glenn’s very deep faith and his commitment to people have made this what it is for him. His work is the way that he can carry out his deep love for people and his genuine desire for his impact on people to assist them to meet their greatest potential and the fullness of life that they deserve.

St. Joseph’s College has been blessed that Glenn’s 25 years of service to Catholic Education have been here at the College.

How lucky we are.

Kirrilee Westblade 

Catholic Identity Leader