Newman News Term 2 Week 8: From the Principal
Our Champagnat Week festivities have enabled us to reflect on our Marist charism and our commitment to building strong relationships underpinned by our family spirit.
St Marcellin Champagnat’s vision for change and transformation inspires us to break new ground, forge new pathways and build better futures. This week, our students have come together to celebrate this vision by their active participation in community building activities such as Kicks for Kuya, Phun Ties for Philippines and other campus-based events.
At the heart of Catholic education is our commitment to serving others who are less fortunate and building the common good. Our ministry at Newman College seeks to form our young people to be transformative in the world in which they live. An example of this has been this school’s ongoing commitment to supporting the Kuya Centre for street children in the Philippines. This Centre supports homeless children by providing education, training, advocacy, legal aid and shelter.
Over 50 Newman students and teachers have visited the Centre in the last five years. Our commitment forthwith is to create an awareness, to tell their story and imbue in all of us to share their plight; moreover the aspirations and dreams of these young Filipino children. Their dreams are the same as our students’ dreams. Their aspirations are the same as our students’ aspirations.
We have asked families this week to donate between $5-10 to support these children. This is a small ask that will yield massive results for these kids…… food on the table, a roof over their heads and an education. These basic human rights are privileges for many children across the world. At our Marcellin assembly this week, I encouraged students to reflect and give thanks for what we have and challenged them to consider how they could be an advocate for change.
For many of us it starts within…… to have the courage, the conviction and the belief that ‘I am powerful’, that ‘I can make a difference’. We are only afraid of what we can do, not what we cannot do.
This week we celebrated our Champagnat Award Winners across each year group. Congratulations to the following students on the receipt of this prestigious award:
- Addison Blizzard – Year 7
- Zara Kok – Year 8
- Holly Agostino – Year 9
- Abraham Chesson – Year 10
- Olivia Kojundzich – Year 11
- Meg Hobson – Year 12
These award winners have been recognised today because they are the embodiment of our Marist values.
