Author: Jenni Vile

Jenny Lindsay (Macauley 1972) is the oldest daughter of Tom and Mary nee Zencich, and attended Siena, Dominican Girls’ High School in Doubleview from Years 8-12, 1968-1972. Her sister Robyn Robertson (Macauley 1976) followed her to Siena, and her brother Wayne Macauley (1979), attended Marist College, Churchlands.  

Jenny discovered her call to be a teacher during primary schooling at St Dominic’s; then one of the feeder schools for Siena Girls’ High School. It wasn’t until she came to Siena in 1968 she recognised she wanted to be a high school teacher and, ideally, return to teach at her alma mater. In February 1976, after Teachers’ College, Jenny realised her dream, working alongside many of her former teachers who had inspired those dreams. 

In 1977 Siena, Brigidine and Marist Colleges united to form Newman College, and Jenny has since seen Newman transform into the thriving co-educational school we are today. Over the years she has seen and done it all, and taught myriad subjects, from Speech and Drama to Religious Education. Just as she experienced when she was a young teacher starting out at Siena, some of her former students are now her colleagues. Many have also sent their own children to Newman, which has maintained the sense of connection and led to the profound experience of Jenny having taught the children of some of her former Year 9 students from the 1970s and 1980s! 

Jenny’s family have been hugely significant in their support of her during the nearly 30 years she taught Drama at Siena and Newman Siena.  Her father Tom, husband David, and sister Robyn all helped construct and paint backdrops for productions whenever required, while her mother Mary joined the staff, making or serving afternoon tea or supper, during interval.  Later, her daughter Rachel Heilers (Lindsay 1996) and son, Adam Lindsay (2001) helped in all kinds of capacities backstage, including stage management.  

Aside from teaching, Jenny has also been a key driver of social justice initiatives, from organising Christmas hampers for Vinnies, to starting a student-led Social Justice group in 2006. 

In 2019, Jenny retired from full-time teaching and was recognised with the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Marist Education Award’, honouring her decades of service.  

Throughout her years here, Jenny has felt tremendously supported by the College community, which has seen her flourish from a student to a wife, mother, grandmother and, sadly, with the loss of her husband David in 2012, widow.  

Unfortunately, COVID ruined Jenny’s 2020 plans to travel. Instead, she had both knees replaced and, since March 2021, has been working back at Newman as a relief teacher, continuing her significant contribution to our School as she has for nearly five decades.   

Eden Rigo (2015) was recently selected, from a field of six worthy candidates, as the 2025 Rhodes Scholar for Western Australia. Eden is our second Rhodes Scholar, the first being Dr Bronte Adams AM (1980), and we could not be more proud of her incredible achievement! 

Eden, the younger sister of Gioia Rigo (2010), came to Newman College in Year 5 and loved her years here, and has many fond memories of teachers and other staff. In Romero Guild, she was in the ACC Athletics and Swimming Teams, and played Basketball, Touch Football and Volleyball. She set a near record for protractor throwing in Maths in Year 10, a new record for Shot Put in Year 11, was the Female Age Swimming Champion in Years 11 and 12, and Year 12 Drama Captain. Eden was also in Remar in Years 10, 11 and 12 (the faith in action group now known as Game Changer) which, she says, kick-started her love for community service. 

Eden chose not go straight into university, instead taking time to travel. In doing so, she built a store of life experiences backpacking around Europe for eight months, living in Broome for six months, travelling through Indonesia and Malaysia for nearly five months, and teaching English online at a summer school. When not travelling she worked in hospitality in Perth, mostly during the summers. 

She began her Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning at Curtin University in 2021, aged 23, and is now completing her Honours. During her studies she has won several awards, including attaining the highest academic standing across her entire degree. She has twice attained Membership to the Vice Chancellor’s list, recognising the top 1% of undergraduates, and received the Don Watts High Achievers’ Scholarship. She has also undertaken three New Colombo Plan Mobility programs, which have taken her to the Maldives and three Micronesian countries. When she graduates, her degree will have taken her to eight different Asia/Pacific countries, and twice to the United Nations – the second in November this year for COP29, the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

In her spare time Eden coordinates the mentoring of a women’s politics program and, as part of her activities with the Osborne Park Rotary Club (of which she has been a member for three years), arranges social gatherings for Ukrainian refugees. She has also held various leadership roles across political and student planning associations. 

She has worked in the private sector, in the Community and Culture team at Element Advisory and, for the past two years, has been the Executive Officer of the State Parliamentary Labor Party at Parliament House. 

As far as her Rhodes Scholarship, which will take her to Oxford University, Eden hopes to study a Masters in Philosophy in Development Studies, as she’s aiming for a career which is impactful for at-risk and vulnerable communities. She aims to learn as much as she can at Oxford so she can foster sustainable and thriving communities in future. 

We wish Eden the very best with her studies next year, and in bringing her plans to fulfillment! 

Dr Ken Spillman (1976) is the son of Pat nee Smith and John Spillman (1949), who attended St Ildephonsus College, New Norcia, in the 1940s with his brother, Kevin Spillman (1953). 

Ken came to Marist Junior College in Subiaco in Year 7, the year his family moved to Wembley Downs. He graduated from Marist Senior College, Churchlands, in 1976. His sister Lyn Spillman (1974) graduated from Siena Girls’ High School, and his younger sisters Jan Spillman (1978) and Leane Spillman (1982) attended Newman. Encouraged to write while at school, Ken published his earliest work while still in his teens. For many years he worked as a literary critic and non-fiction writer on works such as ‘Identity Prized: a History of Subiaco’ (1985) before launching his first full-length fiction, ‘Blue’ (1999). He has since published more than 75 works of fiction aimed at both adults and children, and has been shortlisted for, or won numerous prizes. He has also written over 25 books of non-fiction. 

Last year was a huge year for Ken, with the release of 13 new books (of which 11 were children’s books for Scholastic Asia), and the launch of a book published in 2022. He co-authored the other two books; one published by HarperCollins, ‘More Than I Am’, and another titled ‘Secret Agent, Unsung Hero’,  which he wrote with Hon Peter Dowding SC (former Premier of WA, 1988-1990). This is a biography of Peter’s uncle, Bruce Dowding, who worked with the French Resistance and was beheaded by the Nazis. Ken says the project gave him an intense immersion in the 1930s and 1940s, and took him back to the study of Nazi Germany in the Marist College classroom, where a very young teacher, Frank Egan (1971), first excited him about writing history. Frank was a Marist College Old Boy and taught Geography, History, Social Studies and Religion at his alma mater from 1972 to 1983. In acknowledgement of Frank’s encouragement all those years ago, Ken sent him a copy of the book. 

This year Ken is working on his third biography, about a man who came out to WA in 1849 with the Benedictines. (The Benedictines founded New Norcia and, a few years later, a second monastery near Perth which gave Subiaco its name.) Ken also generously hosted a table at our Year 12 Careers’ Breakfast earlier this year, and inspired some of our students considering a future in writing! 

Pippa Williams (1994) grew up in Scarborough and, after primary schooling at St John’s, came to Newman in 1990 for Years 8 and 9 at Newman Siena in Doubleview, and then for Years 10 to 12 at Newman College, Churchlands.  

Pippa, who was followed by her younger sister Mia Fox (Williams 1997), loved her time at Newman. She bonded with an incredibly strong group of friends and they are still her closest friends today, 30 years later. 

After school Pippa studied Physical and Health Education at UWA and, in her third year, completed a prac placement at the WA Police Academy in the Physical Training Department. At the time she had an inkling that being a PE teacher wasn’t perhaps the right fit, and liked what she saw at the Police Academy. Pippa finished her degree and then went to the USA where she worked at a summer camp and travelled for three months. On her return, aged 21, she joined the WA Police Force. 

Pippa spent four years with the Police, but a conversation with Anna Wood (Georgiades 1994), one of her friends from school, changed the course of her life. At the time Anna worked for the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA), now the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) in Communications and Recruitment. She suggested that Pippa should have a go at applying for the Fire and Rescue Service as she thought she would really like it. 

Pippa applied, but didn’t get in on her first try. The desire to become a firefighter took hold however, and on her second attempt in 2003, aged 25, she was successful and part of Trainee Firefighter School 53. 

After graduating Pippa went to Perth Fire Station as a reliever, where she had the opportunity to work at many stations and with many crews across the metro area. After three years Pippa attained a position at Duncraig Fire Station where she worked for 14 years gaining experience in all operational aspects of the job including bushfire fighting, structural firefighting, rescue and HAZMAT. 

Pippa has also completed  four secondments to the Communications Centre where she answered 000 calls, dispatched jobs to crews and communicated with crews at incidents as a radio operator. Over the past five years Pippa has developed a keen interest in training, and has spent time at the Academy instructing trainee firefighters in Breathing Apparatus and Internal Structural Firefighting. She has travelled throughout the state in her role including to Christmas Island to train volunteer firefighters in Breathing Apparatus, and leading a Taskforce in Exmouth for the Total Solar Eclipse. 

After deciding to take the next step in her career progression, Pippa applied for and successfully completed the selection process for Station Officer training. After completing the course throughout 2020 she was promoted to the rank of Station Officer in November that year. Today she is one of three Station Officers at Daglish Fire Station on A Platoon, covering the Western Suburbs from Subiaco to the coast.  

With over 21 years of service Pippa still loves her career as much as when she first started. She enjoys knowing that the work she and her crew do is meaningful, and is helping to make our community a safer place. She also loves the camaraderie amongst her workmates and the opportunity her career has provided for the perfect work-life balance for raising her family (operating on two 10-hour days followed by two 14-hours nights, then four days off).  

As a Station Officer she enjoys the station management side of her role but also loves attending operational incidents, leading a crew. Whilst the work can often be under high pressure conditions, responding to critical incidents where members of the community are potentially having a very bad day, Pippa has found immense personal and professional growth in her role, dealing with the unexpected challenges and the opportunities to learn from every incident, every day. 

We hope to have Pippa at a future Careers’ Breakfast to inspire our Year 12s to consider a career in the Fire and Rescue Service after they have gained some life experience in the years after leaving school. 

Pippa’s partner is Shane Chester (1994) and they have three sons who have all come to Newman since kindergarten: Jaxon (2023), Luca (Year 11) and Griffin (Year 8). Pippa and Shane chose Newman for their boys to have the same fantastic schooling experience they both had. 

We weren’t surprised Pippa was one of the organisers of the 1994 Reunion in October and had a great time catching up with everyone! 

Danny Green (1990) is the youngest of four siblings, including Narelle (1984), Sharni (1986), and Brendan Green (1988).  Danny’s father Mal, who he considers an ‘absolute legend’, taught Danny the values he learnt growing up in the bush, and fighting his way out of really tough times. He was firm, fair, and raised his boys to never pick a fight or throw the first punch.  

Many will remember Mal, as he coached with the Marist Junior Football Club (MJFC) for 50-odd years, coaching AFL players like ‘Spider’ Burton (1987), Quenton Leach (1989), Matt Connell (1989; current Mathematics and HPE Teacher) as well as Danny and his brother Brendan, who was a 1993 West Coast Eagles draft who played for Claremont before going to work with Danny.  

Growing up, Danny loved surfing and ping-pong – but really wanted to be a boxer. To that end, Mal suggested Danny go into martial arts when he was about 12, around the time he came to Newman. 

After finishing Year 11 in 1989, Danny entered into a carpentry apprenticeship, believing it was important to always have something to fall back on. After completing that, he was laser-focused on boxing. 

In 1993, aged 20, he competed in his first amateur match and subsequently began to win title after title. In 1998, he won a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport and a bronze medal at the Liverpool International Boxing Tournament. He was selected for both  the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics, and remains immensely proud to have represented his country. 

In 2001 Danny moved to Sydney and turned professional, training under three-time world champion Jeff Fenech. Over the next 17 years he fought 38 times, winning 33 and losing five. His first loss in his professional career was not until his 17th fight against Markus Beyer in Germany in 2003. He lost to him again in his 21st match in 2005. 

Danny’s third loss was to Anthony Mundine in his 24th fight in Sydney, in 2006. At the time, the two were engaged in an ongoing feud, resulting in their fight being the most-watched pay TV event in Australian history. They went the full 12 rounds. Mundine won but, as difficult as it was to accept, Danny acknowledges Mundine was the better fighter on the night. 

In 2006, director Mick Angus produced ‘The Fight Game’, a documentary about the early part of Danny’s boxing career, which Danny followed up with ‘Closed Fists Open Heart’, his biography published in 2008. That year he also retired from boxing and appeared in Season 8 of Dancing with the Stars. He was very light on his feet and he and his partner, Natalie Lowe, came second overall. 

In April 2009 he came out of boxing retirement for eight years. He won all his fights except for two in 2011. His last was in Adelaide in February 2017, when he finally beat Anthony Mundine and retained the Australian cruiserweight title.  

Danny has broken many boxing records in his time, won many titles all over the world, and is the only Australian to win the World Championship four times. 

In 2002 Danny married Nina, and they are tremendously proud of their two children, Chloe and Archie. 

He still loves surfing and is often at the beach, for which at least one man is particularly grateful. In October 2006, Danny was out in some massive waves at Yallingup when he spotted someone being dragged out to sea in a rip. Danny grabbed him and paddled him safely back to shore, his actions that day resulting in him later being awarded a Commendation for Bravery. 

In 2009 he was part of the Sydney to Hobart team on supermaxi yacht Investec Loyal. Danny recalls the first night was horrendous! At one point he nearly fell off and thought for sure he was going to die.  

“Give me a fight any day,” he says, 
“I thought I was tough, but those ocean racing sailors really are!” 

In early 2013 Danny heard how young Daniel Christie (18), had been king hit in Sydney, on New Year’s Eve 2012. The punch knocked him unconscious, and he fell and cracked his head. His grieving family had no choice but to turn off his life support system 11 days later.  

Daniel’s story touched Danny deeply. Despising street violence, his disgust led him to launch the ‘Stop the Coward Punch’ campaign, which changed how coward punches are now reported and perceived. It has had an effect on lowering the number of attacks overall, but it breaks Danny’s heart to hear of one, saying people need to learn the difference between being tough, and just being a thug. The campaign, still going strong, and his anti-violence advocacy led to him being nominated as WA Australian of the Year in 2017.  

In 2014 Danny launched an online health and fitness program to offer everyday people the chance to embrace a healthier lifestyle. Working with him were the country’s top sports and exercise specialists, dietitians and nutritionists. Later that year, with Tim West, he launched a new kind of boxing gym, called 12RND which, as implied, has 12 stages/rounds, each of which takes just three minutes to complete. This revolutionary method means people are no longer bound to session times, and can do their rounds when it suits them. 

The idea has since spread all over the world, with 90 sites around Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with an estimated 15,000 members. In 2020 the franchise united under one brand – UBX (You Box), which is now rolling out across the US, UK and Ireland, making UBX the largest provider of boxing for fitness in the world.  

While Danny inspires everywhere he goes, with his energy, enthusiasm, and giant heart, he continues to inspire at Newman College too, where he is featured on one of five Alumni Inspiration Walls, in company with Prof Barry Marshall AC (1968), Dr Rosanna Capolingua AM (1976), David McAllister AC (1980) and Daniel Ricciardo AM (2006). Danny’s feature is at the entrance to the Weights Room in the Frank Ehlers Swimming Pool rooms where, every day, his words encourage students to pursue their dreams, no matter how wild. Danny’s still busy, pursuing his!