18 September 2020
While 2020 hasn’t been without its challenges, it would be remiss to ignore the ways such challenges have shaped our entire leadership team, and pushed us all to grow and evolve as leaders. Together, we have learnt how to lead, inspire and participate from a distance; we have learnt that, when we work together in the face of adversity, we can do great things. And we did! Together with the WAAMS team, we built our own student-run website, designed to address all the possible needs of our fellow students; study tips, workout plans, faith activities, multicultural dialogue, learning to vote - just to name a few.
Throughout this year, we’ve worked closely with the Year 12 cohort, the Stewardship Team and the wider MSJ community, to gauge the needs of all MSJ students during such difficult times, to use our website and platform to advocate for those needs. In many ways, the trials and tribulations of this year have brought our student body closer together, as the SLT’s sole focus in 2020 was to take care of, not just each other, but everyone within the MSJ community, to ensure that even though we were apart, we all still felt connected and supported.
It is this legacy that we are excited to pass on to our 2021 successors, a legacy in which the leadership team facilitates connectedness at MSJ by advocating for the needs of our community; to truly ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’
Laura Whitfort & Olivia CaldwellThis year has been a very eventful one for the Wellbeing team. Our year began with the annual MSJ Swimming Carnival - with Providence House gaining victory for 2020 - followed by the implementation of our Get Active Lunchtimes, which aimed to boost lunchtime physical activity within our junior year levels. During remote learning, we kicked off our May Minutes Challenge, provided many wellbeing tips on MSJ Connect and are now running our Race Around Australia Challenge, where the MSJ community aim to circumnavigate mainland Australia in 50 days.
The Wellbeing team and I have greatly enjoyed promoting the importance of maintaining one’s wellbeing throughout this year, whether it be through sport, mental wellness or social activities. As we all hand over our roles to the Class of 2021, I would like to thank the MSJ community for its continual support of our initiatives, as well as Sue Sofarnos and Mr Piazza for their assistance with the organisation of said initiatives. We all hope to have left our legacy on the College, and that our initiatives will be carried out for years to come.
Penny Parker
This year for the Arts has been very busy! With all of the different challenges that my team and I have had to overcome, I am beyond proud to say that we have come out the other end absolutely street fighting. This year, we have achieved the successful running of music nights, MMADD week, MSJ's Got Talent, weekly website updates and weekly meetings, and have managed to keep a very fun and light-hearted spirit during this time.
The team and I enjoyed creating the legacy of the MSJ Connect website that has been very successful in promoting our events and keeping people busy during this lockdown time at home.
Overall, the work that the team and I have put into working together, becoming friends and making the arts at MSJ the best it can be, we would not have done a better job. I am excited to see where the arts at MSJ will go in the future as we now hand over our roles and I would like to thank all of the teachers, students and people that have made this year such an amazing, different and exciting year to be a leader!
Tia Stewart
The year of 2020 has been a challenging year for the Academic Portfolio, but with passion and dedication on our side, we were determined to use the challenges to our advantage.
In March, the portfolio began with an exhilarating celebration for Pi Day with a quiz based on mathematical knowledge, pie decorating, and of course, pie eating. With double the amount of students expected, the Academic Team was thrilled with the engagement and hunger of MSJ students to participate in an activity that has never been run at MSJ before.
Aced It! Tutoring, established by the previous Academic Captain, also continued in 2020 but came to an abrupt pause in the middle of the year due to strict lockdowns rules. However, during the duration that it ran, the program was a success with over 80 students and tutors coming together to have tutoring sessions together. May was filled with exciting and informative Kahoots that allowed the students to take a break from their studies and have some fun learning some new topics, such as Nutella!
In June came Taboo, a guessing game that requires quick thinking and team workmanship. With again double the amount of students expected, the energy and enthusiasm couldn’t be matched and the Academic Team was delighted to be rewarded with the energy in the room.
August and September were especially busy, as in those months it was National Science Week and National Literacy & Numeracy Week. Each week was a celebration of the respected topic and at MSJ, the celebration was conducted using MSJ Connect. Students had the opportunity to conduct their own whack experiments, submit their incredible photography and have their opinions shared.
I am incredibly proud of the Academic Portfolio for what it has produced in such a crazy year, but I am even more excited to see what the next Academic Leader has in store for the MSJ community. I am thrilled to pass this position onto another student that could never bring anything but enthusiasm to the College. In addition, I am very thankful for the opportunity and support from Mr Piazza and Ms Bourke (and many other teachers), as without them, what made 2020 couldn’t have happened.
Pooja ChelimelaThis year for the Ministry team has been busy! We started Term 4 off with ‘Socktober’; Socktober is an initiative of Catholic Mission and one way which our school can fundraise and engage in advocacy and formation activities for Catholic Mission during World Mission Month in October. With the help of our Cameron junior and senior house leaders, we were able to raise $356.35 - this year's funds raised from Socktober went to India to help those in need, and this helped students learn more about eradicating poverty in our world. The year began with the annual fundraisers projects for ‘Project Compassion’ which I am proud to say was a success. This inspired and brought together thousands of Australians in schools, parishes and the community to stand in solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable communities, to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. The annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day on 25 February was, as always, a big hit with staff and students and raised a total of $468 to go towards Project Compassion. This was one of the biggest successes that happened throughout this year and I would like to thank everyone who participated to make this happen.
As we went on with the year, we prepared for our annual JJAMM Week, which had to be celebrated from our own homes, although we came up with many ideas and activities to ensure our MSJ community stayed connected to faith.
Despite everything that's happened throughout this year, the MSJ Connect website was created to ensure we kept the faith alive; this allowed us to create activities and resources which all the students had access to. Overall, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone and all the staff at MSJ who have been so supportive of our team! We couldn't have done this without you!
Nadine Gunadi2020 started off with a bang for the Social Justice Portfolio, with one of our team’s biggest projects being the Bushfire Fundraisers. This was able to show that small contributions can make a big difference, with the College raising just under $2000, our biggest amount yet. We were lucky enough to celebrate Harmony Day at school and to share our cultures and languages with the MSJ community, promoting acceptance, inclusiveness and diversity.
As we progressed to remote learning, one of our portfolio’s most successful initiatives was the letter writing to Embracia Aged Care and Western Health. This demonstrated that despite times of uncertainty, we could still stand in solidarity and support members in our community who needed it most. The establishment of the website MSJ Connect allowed for students to stay connected to and learn about social justice issues, through our Issue of the Month initiative. This provided insight on a topic each month, hopefully raising students’ awareness of prevalent issues in our society. Some projects and issues that have been explored include Live Below the Line Week, Acceptance Day, Refugee Week, Indigenous Week and the annual MSJ Sleep Out.
The Social Justice Team have worked tirelessly throughout the year, despite the obstacles faced, to continue to raise awareness on issues in our world and to organise projects students and staff can partake in. As Social Justice Leader, I could not be prouder of my teammates, Alia, Amelia, Delaney, Elizabeth and Heather and co-leader Nadine for being so incredibly enthusiastic, supportive and hardworking. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank all staff and students who have continued to be so supportive of our work. We hope that through participating in our social justice initiatives, you have been inspired to live out the Josephite charism of “never seeing a need without doing something about it”.
Thuy Vu
