What's been Happening
Principal's Report
This coming weekend is obviously a very important time for Cowra. It is the 50th Festival of International Understanding. I hope you are already aware that Japan has been selected as the Guest Nation to celebrate this milestone. With our strong connections with Japan and specifically with our Sister School Seikei High, we have taken this opportunity to get involved with all things Japanese. Many students will have experienced a Japanese flavour to lessons throughout the week. We will also have students attending a Kabuki Theatre workshop and a Taiko Drumming workshop. Wednesday will see the school take a couple of hours out of the day to have our own mini festival here at school, with many activities to engage the students in Japanese culture. I encourage you to take the time to visit our shop front display on the western end of Kendal Street. I also urge all students to march with us in the festival parade on Saturday afternoon.
Monday saw our Year 11 students travel to Lake Burrendong Sport & Recreation Camp to complete the Life Ready course. This course is a compulsory component of all senior students’ study and covers such areas as respectful relationships and healthy lifestyles. Although the lack of water in the lake has removed it as a resource, I know the students will have experienced many fun and worthwhile activities during this time.
In my last report, I mentioned our STEM students competing in the Science and Engineering challenge. I was very pleased to hear that they were placed second in the Area and won the bridge building competition. Well done all our aspiring engineers and mathematicians.
Last Friday we held our swimming carnival. It was a fantastic day, with lots of student involvement. Students I spoke to were full of praise for how enjoyable the carnival was. Well done Mrs Pattingale in organising such a great school event. The day also resulted in quite a few of our competitive swimmers qualifying to represent Cowra High at the Regional Carnival in Dubbo and a few records being broken. Best of luck team!
Have a wonderful fortnight.
Charles Gauci
Joe discusses coping with mental illness with students
On Monday 25 February, Cowra High School had the great pleasure of hosting Joe Williams.
He use word and song to tell students about his life journey from playing in the NRL with the Rabbitohs to professional boxing and his life today, all the while coping with a mental illness. Students were fascinated with his story and his ability to rise above his challenges to become the person that he is today – entertaining and successful.
Joe also shared his blueprint for a healthy mind, including eating and sleeping properly, connecting with friends, family and community and ensuring that you are not afraid to ask for help. He also suggested to the student body that taking their phone to bed may not be in their best interest.
Many students were excited to meet Joe after the presentation and share their own stories with him, while others continued having the conversation around mental health long after the presentation was over.
“It is our own mind that causes us suffering or unhappiness” – Joe Williams
Angela Edwards
School Counsellor
Lions Youth of the Year
Cowra High students Maegan Carroll, Sean Smith, Sarah Woods and Ryu Akima are pictured participating in the Cowra Lions Youth Of The Year competition held at Cowra Services club recently.
This competition is part of a state wide competition aimed at developing student's public speaking skills, participation in both the school and wider community, as well as developing leadership skills. Maegan won the competition with a moving prepared speech on racism as well as a strong performance in the impromptu section. She will now go on to proudly represent Cowra at regional level .
Sean, Sarah and Ryu, whilst not entered in the competition itself, worked on developing confidence with prepared speeches. Ryu, our Japanese exchange student, presented a highly entertaining speech on some his “Aussie” experiences and the importance of resilience. Sarah delivered a highly charged and pertinent speech on the impact current drought and its fallout, whilst Sean presented a stimulating and thought provoking talk on the chaos of the recent Australian political landscape. Each of these speeches engaged, entertained and moved the audience, who felt privileged to hear the voices of Cowra’s youth.
Congratulations to all these students.. you did us proud!
Viv Meiklejohn
LYOTY coordinator
Support News
A great turnout at the swimming carnival with lots of support students enjoying a fantastic day! Well done to Jackie Kacarovski, Molly Burbridge, Gabby Spring, Lleyton Edenborough, Mathew Scott, Jordan Hayes and Braydon Shaw.
Mr Sheehy's class have been creative and working very hard recently.
TAS News
Our HSC students have been working hard on their major projects this term.
