Beaconhills College

Teneille M

Year 8 student Teneille M set a new record in the 800m race at the recent ACS (Association of Co-educational Schools) Athletics Championships held at Albert Park’s Lakeside Stadium.

Teneille ran the race in 2:27.12 seconds, just five seconds in front of Matisse L, also Year 8, who placed second.

Her new time shaved five seconds off the former ACS record.

Teneille also placed equal first overall in the individual rankings for the championships. Beaconhills performed extremely well, with five other students also ranking in the top 20: Matisse L, Taryn J, Mitchell M, Jaxon B and Cameron D.

The 800m result was also a four second improvement on her own personal best time, Teneille said.

“I didn’t have a strategy going into the race – it was just to get out fast, early, to make sure I didn’t get caught in the clutter at the beginning of the race,” she said.

Her next event is the Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championships held at Bundoora Park in late June.

Earlier this year she competed for Victoria in the Australian Junior Championships held in Sydney, placing ninth in the Under 15 girls 2000m steeple chase.

Student Daniel T was a recent donor

Beaconhills College students and staff have saved nearly 7000 lives through blood donations to the Red Cross mobile Blood Bank since 1997.

The Blood Bank recently recognised the College’s community service contribution when it made its last visits to the Pakenham and Berwick Campuses.

The Red Cross has now streamlined its collection practices to enable more appointment times by scheduling longer visits at other locations.

The College’s Blood Bank co-ordinator John Waterhouse said the school should be proud of its donation history.

He said a total of 1200 students and staff had donated blood, with many repeat donors. That equated to 2300 units of blood, representing nearly 7000 lives saved.

Student ambassadors worked each year to help recruit other donors and promote the Blood Bank
visits in the school.

“It has been a wonderful way to enlist young people in the program in the hope they will become lifelong donors,” Mr Waterhouse said.

He said the College would continue to appoint ambassadors to promote the program and send small groups of donors off-campus to take part in the mobile Blood Bank’s community visits.

The College’s Blood Bank co-ordinator John Waterhouse (centre) celebrates the last Blood Bank visit to the Berwick Campus with his student donors

Year 12 students Matthew D and Bridget M help create the ‘sea of hands’

Beaconhills College students marked National Sorry Day (Tuesday 26 May) and Reconciliation Week with a ‘sea of hands’ and Reconciliation Assembly at the College’s Pakenham Campus.

Senior students placed 500 red, yellow and black hands on the school grounds as a symbol of reconciliation.

Assembly organiser and teacher Lynette George, a Wiradjri woman, told students that the ‘Sea of Hands’ symbolised Indigenous rights to land, the ongoing process of reconciliation and the desire for greater mutual understanding and respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

“Today we will be doing something special and creating a statement that we, as a Senior School of Beaconhills College, recognise the ongoing need for reconciliation,” Ms George said.

The assembly included guest speaker Mandy Nicholson from the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages who talked about her work to keep Indigenous languages alive.

Shawn Andrews, who is managing director of Indigicate, also spoke passionately about the importance of reconciliation now and for the future. Indigicate is an education provider that specialises in cultural education from an Indigenous Australian perspective.

Other highlights were student musical performances, including children from Little Beacons Learning Centre using their own versions of clapsticks.

This year’s Reconciliation theme is ‘It’s time to change it up’.

Bridget B from Pakenham was on the saxophone

Berwick and Pakenham students honed their performance skills and delighted parents with a range of musical items at Senior School music concerts this week.

From outstanding singing at Berwick, to jazz guitar at Pakenham, there was a wide variety of performances by students completing Units 1 and 3 of the VCE Music subject.

Students from Unit 1 performed two musical items each as part of an ensemble, while Unit 3 students presented two solo items. Each student was marked as part of their assessment.

Some chose well-known tunes from musicals, while others opted for the popular tunes such as ‘Stairway To Heaven’ or ‘Piano Man’.

By the end of the year, students will need to be able to perform five or six items as part of their exams.

Berwick’s Melanie H demonstrated her skill on the violin

Head of Berwick Middle School Clare Tuohy (centre) pictured with student committee organisers Chelsea N (left) and Caitlyn H

The College’s Middle School community now proudly wears the badge of the best Relay for Life fundraiser in the region.

Figures just in from the Cancer Council show the Berwick Campus Middle School team raised a staggering $17,919.65 for cancer research.

The 111 teams which participated in the 2015 Casey event raised a combined total of $403,695.

Head of Middle School Clare Tuohy said the team was “absolutely thrilled” to learn the news.

“I feel very humbled to be part of the Berwick Campus Middle School and to be in a position to witness such a generous and compassionate community of students, parents the wider College staff members,” Mrs Tuohy said.

“Learning that Matters – Citizenship and Service, is at the very heart of our community and this amazing achievement at Relay for Life clearly demonstrates our commitment and dedication to making our world a better place for all.”

She thanked the parent and student committees, including Year 12 students Caitlyn H and Chelsea N for their help and to all staff for their support.

Genevieve Polderman

Former Beaconhills College student Genevieve Polderman was one of the Australians volunteering in Nepal when the 7.8 earthquake hit on April 25.

Having witnessed first-hand the devastation it caused to the communities where she had worked, she has now launched a campaign to raise money to provide food, water and first aid supplies to villages nearest the epicentre.

Her ‘Snipping for Nepal Appeal’ will see her cut 50cm from her hair to raise $3000 for the cause. She plans to donate her hair to ‘Pantene Beautiful Lengths’ to make wigs for cancer patients.

Genevieve said the funds she raises will be distributed by Sudip Koirala, who is the president of the Leo Lions Club Nepal and from the host family where she stayed while volunteering in Kathmandu.

The earthquake struck just a day before Genevieve was due to return home from a wonderful month, working at an orphanage run by the Didi Foundation, the Bright Future Childrens’ Home.

Genevieve graduated from the Pakenham Campus last year and decided to take a gap year after being accepted into International Studies at Deakin University.

She was always involved in community service activities at school such as Relay for Life and was a regular Blood Bank donor.

After hearing about the Bright Future Childrens’ Home through its founder, Jan Pryor – her mother’s friend – she decided to volunteer in the orphanage, teaching crafts and working in the womens’ co-operative centre helping out in IT classes, sewing and the library. The orphanage is in a small town called Pepsi Cola, named after the town’s factory.

Genevieve was at the Bright Future Childrens’ Home having a party when the earthquake struck.

“It went on for about a minute,” she said. “I wasn’t so much scared as had a lot of adrenalin.”

She spent about three hours with them in an open space immediately afterwards, then the night sleeping outside before having to battle a huge crush of people at the airport the next day to make her flight out of the region.

“We all saw things that no one should ever have to see or experience,” she said. “Having to leave my host family and the Bright Future Childrens’ Home was more heart-wrenching.”

She said with 40,000 homes destroyed and more than 8000 people killed, donations are vital to help the Nepalese people in their time of need, particularly now the area has just recently experienced a second 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

Genevieve plans to have her hair cut at the Pakenham Campus on 25 May once her fundraising goal is reached, but is considering extending the goal to raise even more money.

If you would like to donate, go to her fundraising page.

Sudip Koirala, president of the Leo Lions Club Nepal and Genevieve’s host, hands out food after the earthquake.

Tennis School coach to run for Nepal

Head of the College’s Tennis School of Excellence Brett Hillier is also doing his bit for Nepal, taking part in a 150km fundraising run.

Together with his friend Darren Cordy, Brett will start the run from Foster on 22 May and run through the day and night, arriving in Upper Beaconsfield on 23 May at the local tennis club for a party and barbecue.

Proceeds from the barbecue will go to CARE Australia to help rebuild Nepal. $10,000 is the fundraising goal.

Brett said he has visited Nepal twice and knows it is a country with limited infrastructure and ability to cope with an earthquake disaster.

“Thousands are dead, homes have been lost and the country is in shock,” he said. “To help Nepal is the only just thing to do.”

You can donate to Brett Hillier’s fundraiser here.

To find out more contact Brett.Hillier@beaconhills.vic.edu.au

Equestrian captain Alicia B (Year 12) placed third in the championship round

Beaconhills College’s Equestrian Team members modelled their stylish new team uniforms at the recent Inter-School Show Jumping Championships.

The event was the second round of a four round championship, hosted by Hillcrest Christian College.

Equestrian co-ordinator Michelle Wong said the College’s senior riders rode very well, with equestrian captain Alicia B placing third in the championship round and fourth overall.

She said the team was steadily expanding and it was wonderful to see competitors support each other during the competition.

“Our junior riders are learning the ropes with the assistance and guidance of our senior riders,” Ms Wong said.

“And the new equestrian uniforms meant our team was looking very impressive!”

She said Beaconhills’ new branded ‘jump’ will be unveiled in the next round of competition. Beaconhills College will also be the host school of round one in 2016.

* Beaconhills students interested in joining the team should email Michelle.Wong@beaconhills.vic.edu.au

Team members proudly model their new uniforms

Jemma T (Year 9)