Dear families and members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

Farewell to our Year 12 students

This week we acknowledged and celebrated the significant achievements and contributions that our graduating class of 2019 has made to our MLMC community during their six-year journey with us. Amid the celebrations this week there were emotions of happiness, and sadness. Sadness in coming to the realisation that their journey here at MLMC is coming to an end, and happiness in celebrating our time together and looking forward to the journey ahead.

We hope the graduating class of 2019 leave with fond memories of their time here at MLMC and leave with the knowledge that they have been given the opportunity to acquire skills and experiences that will serve them well in their lives beyond the College.

Year 12 Level Leaders Mrs Janet Barr and Mr Tim Thompson, along with Campus Director Mr Kamahl Russell, are to be congratulated on the way in which they worked with the students to achieve a positive and memorable finish.

We are very proud of our graduating class of 2019 and are confident that they will continue respect their families, their peers and the community that has supported them over the years.

Old Collegians' Gala

On Saturday 19 October I had the privilege of attending the Old Collegians’ Gala. It was a fantastic night, listening to stories of years gone by and meeting members of our extended community. Congratulations to our past staff and students who have been inducted on to our Mercy Honour Roll. Their example of Mercy and dedication to the service of others is an example for all of us to follow.

Congratulations to:

• Michael McLindon (staff member 1984-2010): school psychologist and instrumental in implementing the Wellbeing team
• Dympna Beard (Class of 1965): outstanding service to the community
• Patrick Boucher (Class of 1993): founder and director of Yarra Valley Life TV
• Rebecca Collins (Class of 1999): founder and director of fashion label Mae's Sunday

To the MLMC Old Collegians’ Association — thank you for creating this opportunity to meet and reconnect with friends and also to acknowledge the great things our past students have done in their personal and professional lives in the years that followed MLMC. Our Old Collegians’ Association plays a very important role within the cultural life of the College. The members of the association generously donate their time to maintain and grow the links between the College, our past students and our local community. The work of the Old Collegians brings many benefits to the College and we thank them for it.

Sports Awards

On Thursday 24 October I attended our annual Sports Awards. Thank you to Ms Danni Webb, our Sports Coordinator, for organising a fantastic night and looking after all the coaches and teams during the year. Jack Ross, a current player with Richmond Football Club, spoke to us about his AFL journey and the importance that sport has played in his life.

To all the students who participated in our sports program and to those whose achieved individual recognition, congratulations. Sport plays an important part in our cocurricular program here at MLMC and it has been fantastic to witness the large number of students who have been involved in our sports programs.

The Mark Prest Award

With this newsletter you will find a nomination form for the Mark Prest Award, which is presented annually to the staff member who most exemplifies our Mercy education philosophies, values and spirit. Each staff member can only win this award once. The award winner for 2019 will be announced at the Night of Excellence on Friday 13 December. Staff members can be nominated by parents, students, other staff, or community members. Please consider this process. You can find the nomination form below.

Acting Principal
Louis Papadimitriou

As the warmer weather begins please keep in mind that MLMC is a SunSmart school. All students are expected to have a College hat that must be worn at recess or lunchtime when they are not in a designated hat-free zone.

As each of our Year 12 students begin a new stage of their life’s journey, let us hold them close in prayer. The beautiful sunshine this week also reminds us of the gift of spring, of new life and the chance for new beginnings.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Father

Thank you for a fresh start today. Thank you for the reminder of ‘renewal’ that spring represents to us in the earth.
You ‘spring forth’ a new thing!
I am excited and expectant of your goodness in this spring season.

Thank you, Father!
Prepare me for all the new and wonderful things you have for my life.
Help me to let go of the old things that hold me back, the things that do not bring me life, the things that keep me living in the past.
I will cling to my new identity in Christ!
Help me to keep ‘springing forward’ in my journey with you.

Amen

We have farewelled our Year 12 Class of 2019 this week. Celebrations began with a full-school assembly led by our College Captains, Grace Clinton and Matthew Gamble. They acknowledged the great work of members of our community, while also offering wonderful reflections on their time at the College. Special thank you to Grace for her video presentation of their six years at MLMC.

During the assembly, a gift of an autograph book was presented from each Year 7 Homeroom to their Year 12 Homeroom counterparts and, as a lasting gift to the College, it is with great pleasure the Year 12 students have organised for a garden bed of daffodils to be created. Earlier in the year when our Principal, Mr Phil Morison, spoke to the Year 12 students, he used an analogy about daffodils growing. The Year 12s hope that in the years ahead, as the daffodils continue to flower, you will remember the growth that is possible as you each journey through MLMC.

In his address as Acting Principal, Mr Louis Papadimitriou wished the Year 12s well for the future. “We hope you leave with fond memories of your time here at Mount Lilydale Mercy College and leave with the knowledge that you have been given the opportunity to acquire skills and experiences that will serve you well in your lives beyond the College.”

Mr Papadimitriou told the Year 12s to remember that they will always be MLMC students. “Even though you may longer be here, you will always belong and be part of our community.”

He also gave this blessing on behalf of the College community:

May God's blessing follow you all as you find new journeys to travel. May you walk safely along the pathways of your dreams.
May his gentle hand guide the decisions you will make and the passions that you follow.
May your hearts and lives always reflect his love and truth,
And may hope be a light within you that you carry into each new day.
Amen.

Tuesday 22 October was the Year 12 Celebrations Day. It began with Mass, led by Fr Dean Bradbury, which was a beautiful and fitting final Mass for the Year 12 students. This was followed by the presentation of College Gold and Double Gold Awards and recognition of the role played by each member of the 2019 Prefect body. To finish the day, a barbecue lunch was prepared by the staff for the students and a carnival atmosphere allowed the students to relax and celebrate their time together at the College.

We wish the students well in their upcoming exams and look forward to seeing them all together again at the Year 12 Graduation on Saturday 23 November.

College Gold:

Thomas Badgery
Chloe Baulch
Christelle Cartledge
Liam Charles
Amelia Cimo
Ethan Cornish
Alex D’Angelo
Erin Dean
Ella Delgorge
Mitchell Douglas
Angelo Eglezos
Jade Fairweather
Zara Fehring
Jackson Flint
Lara Griffin-Krenn
Nathan Hausler
Molly Henderson
Tara Jean
Brianna Kollosche
Natalee Marchese
Eliza McDonald
Emily McIntyre
Joshua McKinnon
Tristan Mifsud
Charlton Pettigrew
Nichols Sanelli
Kendra Spencer
Amara Sproson-Barr
Grace Staindl-Dymond
Harrison Stolzenhain
Harrison Strachan
Ashlee Sumner
Keilani Trewavis
Alice Tripp
Jacquelyn Voss
Charlie Wells
Jessie Williams
Sophia Zappia

College Double Gold:

Jai-Kobi Butcher
Mikayla Byrne
Sienna Clark
Grace Clinton
Matthew Gamble
Darcy Hamilton
Samuel Lees
Georgia McAleer
Matthew Phillips
Ethan Preston
Hannah Steele
Willow Thomas

For the first time ever, MLMC took part in a High Altitude Balloon (HAB) project this year. A team of seven students and three teachers worked together for five months to launch an unmanned balloon up 28,000 metres into the air to collect a range of data that we hope to use in schools to gain a better understanding of what it is like up in ‘near space’. This project was undertaken as a way to contribute to Science Week’s theme ‘Destination to the Moon’ and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and first moonwalk in 1969.

Over the five months, an enormous amount of planning and organisation was done. Working alonside Science Faculty Leader Mrs Urszula Faulkner, we were able to obtain all the equipment we needed within the first month. The original launch date was 10 August, so we had to set up and test all the equipment, trial loading of the payload and practice filling up the giant helium balloon using one of the two 8Lt tanks.

Like most science experiments, this one had many setbacks. On arrival, the APRS (our main tracking device) was delivered faulty. This had to be sent back in order to get a new, working one, setting our launch date back. This wasn’t resolved for about a month, resulting in us getting another tracking device (the UHF) as a back-up. As well as hardware setbacks, we experienced many weather setbacks. Since CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) only gave us a 120km search radius, we had to pay careful attention to the weather predictions. Using the HAB Hub tracker, which is used for all HAB projects, we were able to estimate the distance travelled — whether it was in the search radius or not — and where it was estimated to pop and land. The accuracy of these co-ordinates were correct on the day of launch, easing many of our doubts. Weather predictions resulted in more pushbacks of our launch date all the way until October.

Despite all the unforeseen setbacks, the launch eventually took place on Thursday 17 October. We arrived at Lake Bolac at 7.15am to prepare the site and put all our hard work to the test. The overall experiment of launching worked and the payload was recovered within 10 minutes of its landing as a result of the accurate readings all three trackers gave. It was unfortunate to discover that the Raspberry Pi we used to collect all our main data was disconnected from its batteries, rendering it useless. However, we did obtain other readings from the CO₂ meter and the temperature probe. Although we didn’t exactly obtain the results we wanted, the experiment was a fun learning experience for everyone who participated and we can’t wait to try it again next year and build on our learning from this year.

The team involved included teachers Mr John Parlas, Mrs Urszula Faulkner and Ms Kerrie Dohrmann, science lab technician Mrs Valmai Hicks and seven students Ethan Cornish, Harrison Stolzenhain, Lara Griffin-Krenn, Brayden Hunt, Tristan Mifsud, Olivia Pettinella and Jamieson Manger.

For specific details about the equipment used in the project, see the attached document.

Congratulations to Jamieson Manger (Year 11 Silver) who was recently accepted into the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) 2020 program. During the upcoming summer holidays she will spend over a week away from home immersing herself in some of the best science conducted in Australia.

During the NYSF, students from across Australia who are about to embark on their final year of secondary education get the opportunity to live on the grounds of some of Australia’s top universities and interact with other young and like-minded scientists. Jamieson will be attending Australian National University and observing the groundbreaking work conducted by top research organisations.

Well done to the MLMC candidates who applied for the program, who are all great and dedicated young scientists. This opportunity was possible due to the support of the local Rotary Clubs who sponsor the candidates. A huge acknowledgement to the Wandin and Lilydale Rotary Clubs for their support of Jamieson and to our Rotary contacts, Registrar — Students Mr Terry Hill and also Mrs Carol Lawton, who both encouraged and guided all of our enthusiastic candidates through the application process.

We look forward to hearing from Jamieson about the NYSF when she returns next year to tackle her final year at our College.

After a long and thorough process of applications, interviews, voting and further interviews, last week witnessed the investiture of our 2020 Student Leadership Team. The full-school assembly on Tuesday 15 October saw the 2019 Captain and Prefect team thanked as they presented the new leadership team with a personalised letter of welcome as well as messages of good luck, along with a College candle and a Prefect badge.

Tatiana Lintzeris and Riley Swankie (pictured, together and with their families) will serve as our College Captains and Summer Thomas and Harrison George as College Vice Captains.

Acting Principal Mr Louis Papadimitriou spoke to the Leadership Team about what being a leader and role model would mean and that being elected was the easy part, even though they had already shown great courage to take on such a prominent role within the College.

“Every great leader grows in the job and realises that mistakes will be made and lessons learned. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect. From this day forward, you will demonstrate, through your actions and words, who you are as a leader.”

He told the group that being selected as a Captain or Prefect was an indication that staff and students “have great faith in you”. “Congratulations and let’s work together to make 2020 the best year ever.”

The ceremony concluded with the new leaders delivering the following pledge:

We promise to do our best to uphold the ideals of the school.
We undertake to carry out responsibly the leadership duties entrusted to us.
We believe that through a spirit of cooperation, each person can realise their true potential and come to know what it is that is truly important in life.
We ask for your support and for God’s help to carry out faithfully what we have promised this day.

(1) Student achievements

Equestrian
Congratulations to Charlotte Mansley (Year 9 Bronze) who recently represented Australia at the Trans Tasman Challenge, an event for youth and amateurs who ride a donated horse in a series of events against competitors from New Zealand. Charlotte won two individual bronze medals, various other individual awards and was part of the winning team. Charlotte also received several awards at the awards evening for the Australian Quarter Horse Association, held in Melbourne. The awards Charlotte received included: Overall hi point youth of Australia 12-14 years, Overall hi point youth Cat 1 of Victoria, Hi point youth Hunter under saddle, Hi point youth Trail, Hi point youth Horsemanship, Hi point youth Hack, Hi point youth Dressage, Hi point youth Show hunter, Runner-up hi point showmanship, Runner-up Hi point Hunt seat Equitation, Runner-up Hi point youth Hunter hack, Hi point Hunter Hack as well with HL Theodore (Open division). Well done, Charlotte!

If you have any student or staff achievements, please email them to dwebb@mlmc.vic.edu.au

(2) Weights training

Through Term 4 the supervised open gym is available on Wednesday mornings, 7.15-8.15am. Either train with your own program or we can help you out. Breakfast is provided afterwards. See Ms Webb for more information.

(3) EISM results

Year 9 (24 October)

(4) Sports Awards

The annual MLMC Sports Awards night was held on Thursday 24 October. A full list of ward winners will be published in the next newsletter.

In the last week of Term 3 the VET and VCE Music students were visited by Wilbur Wilde, known for his saxophone playing on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and with the bands Ol’ 55 and Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons.

During his workshop many lessons were learned about the music industry and plenty of music was played. It was an experience that many of the students will remember for a long time.

Ethan Prentice (Year 10 Silver) wrote:

Having a professional musician come in and speak to us about his experiences was helpful to create a better idea of how to go about working in the music industry. Some of his tips that resonated with me the most were — always say ‘yes’, and don’t have a getting ‘big’ strategy. The latter meaning that we shouldn’t be thinking ‘If I do this and this and that I’ll be performing live on Triple J’. Wilbur really emphasised that doing things because they are fun and we enjoy them is far more important than doing things to get famous or to be successful. He also explained to us that he transitioned from playing in bands to radio to TV by just saying yes to people. He told us that he would do an interview with a band and later he might be asked if he could co-host a radio show. Wilbur also wasn’t afraid to jam with us on his saxophone. This made his visit all the more exciting. It’s one thing to hear that someone can play and it’s another to see them play. It was a great experience that I learnt a lot from.

On Friday October 11 our Year 12 Drama students performed their solo examinations to a panel of external VCAA assessors. The students had been working on writing and rehearsing their solos since June and worked extremely hard on what is a very complex and unusual task. Characters for the solo included Tina Sparkle from Strictly Ballroom, Woody from Toy Story, Miss Scarlett of the classic Cluedo board game, a Banksy Artwork and a mischievous gothic spirit. The day was a success, with all students feeling very happy with their final performances. Congratulations to all of our Year 12 Drama students!

On Wednesday 23 October the VET Hospitality students prepared a showcase afternoon tea to celebrate and display the many new skills they have learnt at the College this year. Each student had the opportunity to invite two guests to attend an afternoon of sampling homemade dishes and barista-made coffee.

This year’s VET students have had an introduction to the best of what the industry offers by going on excursions to The Langham hotel, indulging in afternoon tea at The Hatter and the Hare cafe and enjoying a masterclass with author of The Vegan Italian Kitchen Chef, Nadia Fragito. All of these newly-attained skills were showcased during the end-of-year event.

Menus were created, food was cooked and the room was decorated. The nervous excitement slowly filled the room as the special guests arrived. The theme of this year’s afternoon tea was ‘Garden Party’, so the transformation from classroom to a classy pop-up restaurant was created with the addition of greenery and edible rock chocolates.

On the menu were dishes such as chicken sliders, pumpkin bruschetta and salmon sandwiches. Dessert plates consisted of chocolate mousse topped with chocolate soil and tiny fondant carrots, creme brulees, chocolate-coated strawberries and biscotti. Guests also had the opportunity to indulge in mango smoothies or coffee made by Jess using her barista training skills learnt earlier this year.

A big thank you to all of the guests who attended the event and especially to the VET students that started preparations at 9.00am and continued through to final pack-up at 5.30pm. They should be very proud of their efforts and the end result.

The Old Collegians’ Association Memorial Mass is held each year and provides an opportunity for our community to come together to celebrate Mass and remember those who have passed. This year the Memorial Mass will be held in the College Chapel on Saturday 9 November at 4.00pm. It will be followed by a light supper. Everyone is welcome — we hope you can join us.

We are very excited to be producing Matilda as our 2020 College Musical. Over the past few years, we have been working to have as many students in our pit band as possible. Next year, we would love some of our parents to be involved as well, playing alongside our students and teachers, making our College Musical a true community event. We are looking for parents who may have skills in playing the following instruments:

• Cello
• Keyboard/piano
• Alto saxophone/tenor saxophone
• Clarinet
• Flute
• Trombone
• Trumpet.

If this is something you (or someone you know) may be interested in, or would like further information on, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Emily Cerra at the College vie email to ecerra@mlmc.vic.edu.au or phone 9237 1320.

Crazy Sock Day, the climax of Socktober fundraising, will be held on Tuesday 29 October at the College. This Tuesday all students are encouraged to come to school in their uniform, bring along a gold coin for donation and wear their craziest socks! All money raised will go to Catholic Mission to help ‘sock it to poverty’ in India.

During Socktober the Year 10 CSYMA classes have been running fundraising activities for students to join in and help raise money, including making sock puppets and decorating gingerbread socks.

On Tuesday, students and staff will not only have the opportunity to wear their craziest socks to school but to also head to the Ministry Lounge to show off their socks in a Sock walk (catwalk) with a prize for the person wearing the craziest socks.

With Lego rising in popularity again following the screening of TV show Lego Masters earlier this year, the College began a lunchtime Lego Club to allow like-minded students the opportunity to share their passion for building as well as the enjoyment, creativity and imagination Lego can provide.

Lego Club runs every Monday and Wednesday lunchtime, igniting great conversations between students that would not usually interact. The students have identified that they enjoy using their hands and being around people with the same interest.

At the start of Term 3 it was very popular, but with only a limited supply of Lego available interest has started to wane. So more Lego donations are desperately needed. Should you have any Lego at home that you no longer need, please consider donating them to the Lego Club by dropping items off at the College Office. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated.