Principal's Report
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out’. John 1:5 (GNB)
This term, our theme has been ‘Living in the Light’ and the following reflection sums up the importance of Light in our world, and is the very essence of life for Christians at Christmas!
The teacher gave the Year 2 class some Art homework. They were to draw their favourite animal and where it lives. Next morning a young child came back with a piece of paper entirely covered in black crayon. The teacher asked the child what it was. The child replied with a huge smile on their face, ‘It’s my black cat sleeping in my room at midnight’.
Novels and short stories often describe complete darkness as suffocating. Children are often scared and many adults never quite lose their apprehension about entering a darkened room. If a match is lit in a dark place, that place is no longer dark. Isn’t the power of light over darkness amazing? All the darkness in the world cannot even smother a tiny flame.
All the darkness in the world has not and will never extinguish the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.
The Judean hills lay in silent, suffocating darkness on that first Christmas Eve. Suddenly, Heaven burst open and the sky was alight with the host of heavenly angels. They sang praises to God, announcing the Good News that the long awaited Saviour had finally come!
God’s light, Jesus, shines infinitely more brightly than any earthly light. This light illuminated the whole world with its brilliance, the radiance of God’s unimaginable love. **
As you enjoy the Christmas break with your family and friends, may you find joy in the birth of Jesus, a baby that was heralded over many centuries and remains a strong source of light, peace and grace for millions of people throughout the world today.
Thank you to all parents and caregivers for your support of the College throughout 2019. Thank you for your support of your child and their learning whether that has been in attending information evenings, music performances, learning conversations, or the time and encouragement you give them at home. Reading through the many reports, it is wonderful to see the outstanding achievements of many of our students both through in-class learning and the contributions beyond the classroom. Congratulations go to them for their efforts –they all deserve a wonderful break.
Endeavour College has been blessed in the past two years to have a strong ministry team, led by Chaplain Charlie Tatera and Alex Schmocker, and supported by Pastor Chris Mann from Mawson Lakes Community church. Their encouragement and leadership of our ministry programs and the pastoral support they have provided our students and staff has been wonderful. 2020 will see some changes in this space. Alex Schmocker, our Youth Worker completes her time at the College after four years working closely along-side students and as part of the Ministry Team. We wish her well as she continues her study and other personal commitments. Charlie Tatera also leaves our community after serving as our Chaplain for the past two years. We have been inspired and challenged, have been entertained and laughed through his many messages at Chapel and Worship during that time. Charlie has also supported many individuals and class excursions and attended camps during his time with us. For all he has done, we are truly grateful! Charlie is returning to Poland, his home country, to continue his work in ministry, and we wish him God’s blessing and guidance as he pursues his calling!
The sharing of God’s love and his grace is paramount to the fulfilment of our mission at Endeavour College. We know God has a plan for the ministry at the College and accordingly, the College Council in recent days, issued a call to Pastor Reid Matthias. Pastor Reid has been a regular visiting pastor at our College and has had previous experience in working with young people as a pastor at a Lutheran College in Queensland. We ask that our community pray for Pastor Reid and his family as he considers whether this call fulfils God’s mission for his life.
As the year comes to an end, we thank Alison Castine, Merryn Ruwoldt, Meera Venkararaman and Ashley Nott who complete contracts at the College. We thank them for their commitment and service to the students in their classes and Care Groups and the expertise they brought to our College through their gifts.
Celena Williams has been a full-time support as hands and help to Year 12 graduating student, Natalie Oricco throughout her entire five years at the College. We farewell Celena and thank her for her amazing service to Natalie, enabling her to achieve her enormous potential whilst at school.
Vikki Neldner, our Administration Assistant is a person that many of you may not know but all of us have been beneficiaries of her work in the College over the last eleven years. Vikki has capably served our College, ensuring students and staff were informed of important information each day, ensuring the College ran smoothly. She created this very Anchor production and countless others throughout her time at the College. Official PowerPoints and student certificates, together with on-line Edumate information and calendar items all came under Vikki’s role. She also supported students on two of our Habitat for Humanity trips. Vikki has been an important part of our community and we wish her well as she takes up a new position at Faith Lutheran College, closer to home in Tanunda.
We thank all staff leaving and acknowledge the love and care that each of them has shown through their work to the students in their charge, inspiring them to achieve their best!
Annalisa Burge takes Maternity Leave in 2020. We wish both her and husband, Ryan every blessing as they await the arrival of their first child. We also wish David Thiele a refreshing break as he takes Long Service Leave in Term 1 next year.
My thanks to all staff, for their wonderful dedication to our students and the broader community this year. 2019 has been extra challenging as many teachers and students persisted with teaching and learning amongst the noise, drilling, dust and room changes due to the building project. I am grateful for the willingness to adjust, be patient and for enduring as this occurred throughout the year. Despite these obstructions, our staff have been flexible, resilient and gracious, and continued to provide many wonderful learning opportunities for our students throughout the year.
I wish all families a wonderful break and a blessed Christmas and New Year.
Blessings
Heather Vogt
Principal
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out’. John 1:5 (GNB)
**Lutheran Tract Mission: Written and adapted by Anne Hansen