Year 9 CLC Program
CLC Weeks 5 & 6 – First Aid & CPR Training, Human Fusbal, Guest Speakers & Ten Pin Bowling
Massive strides forward have been taken by the Semester 2 group of the ever-popular CLC Year 9 program in Weeks 5 and 6.
The kids in Week 5 were taken through an epic half-day session of First Aid & CPR Training by Paramedic Helen Narayan. Always a great presenter and engaging story-teller, Helen passed on knowledge on all of the First Aid basics, essential skills they should take with them forever. This was followed by CPR Training, complete with physical demonstrations on the school’s Crash Test Dummies. For many, it was the first learning of such concepts. Thanks again Helen for your invaluable and long-lasting partnership with the program.
CLC Family Lunch moved outdoors, with the wooden Trestle Tables pulled out on to the grass of the Sports Oval and into the Winter Sun, while mini-pizzas cooked in the giant on-wheels steel CLC Pizza Oven. As is the purpose of every CLC Family Lunch, the kids connected over food, across the table and together, an essential part of the program.
After lunch it was to the Sport Centre for the traditional Giant Human Fusball. The lightbulb idea of former CLC leader Andy McLean has every semester led to 40-50 Year 9s tied up to string in the Sport Stadium, playing a life-size version of the classic Table Soccer game, with team work the name of the game as the kids have to move together back and forth on their “rod” (string). A classic scene always.
Week 6 kicked off with various on-campus work in the morning. First up, images and videos of the best Slam dunks from the Week 4 Bounce Trampolining excursion were flashed on the big screen as a celebratory reminder of previous highlights, with everyone voting on their favourite stills and clips. Lachy Pensak took out the vote for the best still image with his double-handed Shaq slam, but Levi Smith was the unanimous winner when the videos came out to reveal the true extent of his efforts, with his “over Dylan Hooper, through-the-legs slam” drawing gasps from his peers. Levi actually had the top 5 videos, such was his ability on the day.
The first batch of our Guest Speakers presented their potential volunteering projects for Term 4, as the kids took notes in their Guest Speaker Log. Carole Breust from Make-A-Wish told some harrowing and powerful stories of children with life-threatening illnesses she has been able to grant wishes to. Di Duursma had similarly powerful stories about the Homeless she works with as part of the Night Shelter and Zac’s Place. Tony Lane delivered his always-popular options down at the Mullinmur Billabong. And representatives from both the St. John’s Respect and Iloura Aged Care homes shared great ideas and willingness to have our kids volunteer with them assisting their oldies.
Our kids were commended on their ability to sit through a sustained period of time listening respectively, and quite a few had probing questions and showed genuine interest in various causes they heard. Great stuff, with more speakers to come in next time from various other organisations including Wang West PS and others. Thanks as always to all of those speaking and being willing to host our kids in Term 4.
With the Weather Gods doing the right thing again, outside went the Trestle Tables for another feet-on-the-grass CLC Family Lunch, with Mr Manning doing a pearler of a job on the BBQ cooking up Sausages in bread as the sun beat down on our backs.
It was straight from the Snags to the Bus, then up to the Main Street for one of our favourite in-town CLC excursions. First stop was King George Gardens, where Bina Chuahan and Zoe Taurega-Green, who jumped at the opportunity, to take the reins of this challenge, set about picking a stranger in the park with which to give a bouquet of flowers in a Random Act Of Kindness. With many of their peers frantically trying to suggest recipients, Bina & Zoe, flanked by lads Parker Lappin & Lachy Pensak for “morale support”, made the sterling choice of picking out a mum at the park with her 3 young children, one in a pram. Newmo reported the mum said she’d had a tough morning, and hadn’t been given flowers many times before, so it was greatly appreciated. As the flowers were handed over by Bina, the rest of the 40 CLC kids, all sitting on the nearby concrete stage, applauded with a loud clap, which turned the heads of everyone else in the park, with nods and smiles and thumbs up given in our direction. Tremendous to witness.
Ten Pin Bowling capped off a great day. With the 40 kids split into groups of 5 or 6, they hit the lanes in their Clown Shoes and with the Classic Rock Radio channel blasting and the nightclub lights flashing, it was extraordinary to see so many Year 9 laughing and smiling in the one place. With the announcement that prizes would be on offer to the champion individual scorers, competition was fierce, but it was our champion Indoor Climber Callem Box-Corsini who again seized the chocolates, his 118 just pipping the 114 of good mate Lachy Pensak. Others to round out the Leaderboard were the multi-talented pair of Kade Hadley & Levi Smith both with 95, Parker Lappin (92), Zierra Melbourne the top girl with 87, Dylan Hooper (86), and then Tegan Stewart & Brando Moore (82).
Concluding back at school with the weekly routine of Thank Yous and daily prizes, it was a three great characters who drawn out by Ms Ronald from the many nominations in the Kindness Box. Marcus Iley got one for being genuinely thankful when thanking staff for lunch. Markus Mibini’s was well-earned for carrying outside (and back in) more than one Trestle Table and chair during set up, and Alec Armstrong got his for his “thanks for taking us bowling,” a simple but notable show of gratitude which comes more naturally to him than most.
Jud Mullins
