Year in Focus

Given we have just entered 2021, it seems fitting that this segment of ‘Year in Focus’ will reflect upon some of the biggest local, national and global events of 2001. The 2001 school magazine, ‘Binalong’ was produced by Mark Heidenrijk

 and it contains many reflections about school life at HHS during this year and has been a great help in gathering information for this piece (thanks Mark!).

Once again, the school production was a highlight of the school year and the audience were treated to a quirky version of ‘Cinderella’. 

Directed by Marnie Hradsky, the production was a success and among the delightful events of this show was a stage appearance by popular teachers, Steve Whitmore and Alan Honeycombe, dressed as overgrown cats. The production also featured ‘Scottie’, a real live Shetland pony! 

‘Binalong’ also contains an article written by Nella Lithgow (Miss Griff) about the school’s ongoing successful driver education program. 

As well as teaching Year 10 students about road safety, risk taking and road rules, this program also had a practical component and Nella used to take participants out to the Don Road Complex for driving lessons. That’s certainly something we are not allowed to do anymore! We’re sure many past HHS students have fond memories of bunny hopping along in the school’s yellow Gemini. With Nella’s calm and patient nature, we know many students (and parents!) benefitted from her instruction and hopefully they are better drivers as a result.

In a previous segment of ‘Year in Focus’ we wrote about Sue Parry’s arrival at HHS (1982). After 19 years, Sue decided to retire so she could enjoy the great outdoors on her own terms. Twenty years later she can still be seen riding her bike and walking around Healesville. Past student, Hayley Hollis put it perfectly when she wrote, ‘Ms Parry has always been positive, generous with her time, selfless and passionate about teaching others to enjoy the outdoors.’ Sue left a lasting legacy and many past students had the opportunity to engage in memorable outdoor experiences as a result of her dedication and passion.

HHS students had the option of broadening their horizons via two international trips. Lyn Baker and Anne Tacey accompanied a group of students to the United States and Sue Parry allowed a small group of students to experience the mayhem that is Nepal. Since this time, many staff have taken on the responsibility of international travel with HHS students and in doing so have allowed students to appreciate foreign cultures and cultivate a love of travel.

Unfortunately, 2001 was not free of tragedy. The school community suffered the loss of Tricia O’Reilly. 

Tricia continues to be remembered as a girl with a friendly nature and a big smile. Tricia’s mother wrote in ‘Binalong’- ‘Healesville may be growing in size but the underlying warmth and humanity of the people that live here is overwhelming. It still has a lot of the old-fashioned country atmosphere and when things go wrong it is amazing how the people come together and show how much they care.’ Each year we commemorate Tricia via the Tricia O’Reilly scholarship that is given to a Grade 6 an outsanding student from Healesville Primary School who is intending to enrol at HHS for Year 7.

On a global scale, the world was in shock following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Almost 3000 people were killed and the harrowing vision of the planes flying into the World Trade Centre was televised live. This prompted a period of global unease that lasted for many years after the event.

In happier news, many successful films were released and these have gone on to be highly successful franchises. ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was released, along with the first edition of ‘Shrek’, 

‘Lord of the Rings’

 and ‘The Fast and the Furious’. All remain popular with a diverse audience.

On a national level, after the 2001 federal election, John Howard and the coalition maintained government. The Brisbane Lions won their first AFL premiership, defeating Essendon (15.18-12.10) and starting a dominance that lasted for two more seasons. Kylie Minogue was back in the charts with her album ‘Fever’ and ‘Amazing’ by Alex Lloyd took out Triple J’s hottest 100.

There we have it, 2001 in a nutshell! Stay tuned for more trips to the past.