2 March 2021
As one of the College Captains at MSJ, I see my role as giving all students a voice in our community as best as I can. Afterall, what is a community without its members? Being a part of MSJ for six years already has been unbelievable! I have gotten so much out of my time here thus far thanks to the wonderful supportive friends and teachers here. Now it is time for me to give back to our community, by creating an inclusive environment where everyone’s opinion is valid. After such a hectic year last year, it is of utmost importance to re-establish and strengthen our sense of belonging at MSJ with more activities than ever before. One of my main goals is to focus on climate change and how we can become a more sustainable school, encouraging our students about how they can implement environmentally friendly practices in their everyday lives.
Vivien Wei
My role as a College Captain at Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College focuses on coordinating the Student Leadership Team and being a gateway between the students of the school and the teaching staff. Specifically my goal for this year is promoting school spirit and student voice. To promote school spirit a new project which many people have contributed towards is the House Cup, which is a trophy that the house with the most points wins. Hence, I like many others are looking forward to the House spirit days, including the swimming carnival, athletics carnival and MMAADD day. Thus, in the goal of promoting student voice another project that I am looking forward to is a new concept of student panels. The idea for student panels is that leaders from the SLT will meet with Class Captains in groups by year levels to open a discussion on what is wanted, what is good and what can be improved.
Libby McIntyre
As one of the Academic Captain’s for 2021, we are responsible for ensuring and making academics as engaging and accessible as possible for all students within the school community. The Academic Portfolio this year lends itself to growth and expansion and as we progress through 2021, myself and Andrea are looking forward to expanding the portfolio; one that encompasses everyone’s diverse skills and interests into a cohesive representation of the student body. The Academic Captains work closely with students to help support their learning through enriching extra-curricular programs such as The Academic Olympics. This year, as a new initiative, the Academic leaders have introduced the Academic Committee. The Academic Committee is a group of driven and enthusiastic students from across all year levels, whose role is to bring fresh ideas to Academic endeavours that they would like to see implemented across the school. This committee allows all students to voice their ideas that may benefit the school community. In addition, following the introduction of the House Cup, the Academics Portfolio are eagerly looking forward to planning a number of activities for students to get involved in and obtain points to bring their House closer to victory. The Academic team of 2021 are looking forward to working with both staff and students to make this year, a great year for the Academic Portfolio.
Judy Huynh
As one of the Academic Captains for 2021, my role within the community is to encourage students to engage in academia regardless of their personal performance. I aim to project the voices of students regarding concerns around the academic portfolio, and embrace students of all levels. As we all know, the past year has been very difficult and students may find themselves unmotivated and disengaged in learning. One thing we have continued into this new year is Aced It! Tutoring, a free tutoring program that sees senior students helping the juniors in all areas of learning. Throughout the year, I am looking forward to creating more opportunities for students to interact with learning, especially during the Academic Olympics and Science Week!
Andrea Dino
‘Faith is an oasis of the heart, which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.’ Through faith, we find our way out of the dark into the light as we discover who we truly are, and where we belong. As the Ministry Leader of Mount St. Joseph's Girl’s College, I have the role of guiding the girls at our school through their faith journey, by creating an inclusive environment that harbours courage and fellowship to actively engage in faith activities within our school. The vision of the Ministry Portfolio is that just as Mary heard the word of God in her heart and followed it to the end, that we too, as a school community, embrace the hearts call. I aim to focus on building our school's connection to faith by working with the Youth in Action team, to focus on brainstorming faith initiatives that can be used to promote advocacy and acceptance in the College. Throughout the year, I look forward to encouraging students to find strength in the Ministry of Mary and to find joy in connecting with their faith.
Jade Steenkamp
As the Wellbeing Captain, my position in the school mainly focuses around sport and generally ensuring school is enjoyable for all that attend. I also chair the Wellbeing Team which is made up of some of the Junior and Senior House Captains. So far as leaders, Mikaela (the Arts Captain) and I have introduced the Annual House Cup. This is a competition that runs all year against all of the houses. Each house aims to earn the most house points which are awarded in a variety of different ways and accumulated over the year. This term is an enormous term for the wellbeing portfolio with the upcoming swimming and athletics carnivals to look forward to. The wellbeing team wants to see as many people participate in these events as possible and represent their house with pride. Remember participating in these events not only gives you points towards the swimming or athletics cup, but also the House cup!
Bianca Mathews
Social Justice has always been a very important aspect in the MSJ community’s identity. As a Social Justice Captain, my role is to raise awareness in the College regarding current social issues present in today's time as well as issues that fail to receive enough coverage by the media. However, my role does not only focus on raising awareness, I will also help initiate fundraising events in the College. On the other hand, we have established the Social Justice Club at MSJ. This club works closely with Jade (Ministry Captain), Darcy Robinson (Faith & Identity Leader), as well as myself. The club will focus on brainstorming, helping to run social justice initiatives in the college and deciding on the ‘Issue of the Month’. This year, I am looking forward to working with the Social Justice Club and helping the MSJ community to continue to be strong advocates for justice.
Jeanelle Uy
Art is a beautiful form of self-expression and through many embodiments, it allows artists the freedom to express and explore themselves through creativity. My role as Arts Captain is to provide a safe space in which everyone feels comfortable and confident to showcase their talents and ideas, whilst expanding our arts program to encourage more students to discover something that drives their passion. The arts portfolio is busy planning many exciting projects to take place throughout the year, resuming our Mary Poppins musical production and are in the beginning stages of brainstorming MMADD Day. We also aim to introduce more workshops and expand each art domain with some new exciting programs. My fellow leader Bianca and I have introduced the House Cup in order to promote house spirit but also allow both the Wellbeing and Arts portfolios, consisting of our amazing team of Junior and Senior house leaders, to work together to encourage further teamwork and communal activity and inclusivity. I am so excited to be leading and working with a brilliant group of talented individuals and look forward to sharing further details as the year progresses.
Mikaela King
