Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

More documents

Recommendations

Info

from the senior school National Champions for Literacy and Numeracy in 2006 Literacy and Numeracy Champions promote National Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW). These Champions are Australian authors, entertainers, sports people and other inspirational high profile figures who can highlight the importance of literacy and numeracy skills. Of the eight National Champions for Literacy and Numeracy in 2006, three of them are Old Boys of St Aloysius’ College. Adam Spencer (SAC 1986), Radio Presenter 702 ABC Sydney St Aloysius’ College A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 “Numeracy – it’s as easy as 1, 2, square root of 9.” Adam Spencer began his career in radio by winning the Triple J Raw Comedy Championship in 1996 and went on to take over the coveted breakfast time slot, hosting from 1999 - 2004. An accomplished learner, Adam holds a first class honours degree in Pure Mathematics and has an immense interest in science. These passions led Adam to host the ABC programme Quantum and FAQ from 1998 to 2001. Adam’s book Little Book of Numbers has been published by Penguin and has been translated into many languages around the world. His book More Mind Numbing Math was published by Penguin in 2006. Khoa Do (SAC 1996), Film Maker “I’m thrilled to be a ‘Champion’ of National Literacy and Numeracy Week. National Literacy and Numeracy Week reminds us all about what’s important in education - for young people, literacy and numeracy skills are the building blocks which set the foundation for success in later life. When I was growing up, Mum said that as long as I read well, wrote well and made sure I knew all my times tables, I should be set for life... lucky for me, I took her advice!” In January 2005, Khoa received the Young Australian of the Year Award for his work in film, theatre and for his community work. Khoa is a writer and director who, in 2001, was nominated for an AFI Award for his screen play for the short film, Delivery Day. In 2003, he directed and produced the critically acclaimed film, The Finished People. For this film and for his community theatre, Khoa was nominated in 2004 for two AFI Awards, three Film Critics’ Circle Awards and two Australian Writers’ Guild Awards. Matthew Reilly (SAC 1992), Author “This is the fourth time I have been involved with NLNW and I’m still thrilled to be a part of it! You can never overstate the importance of being able to read, and I will always be happy to promote it and put it on the agenda. The ability to read is enormously empowering – it is from books that we learn more than just what we have personally experienced. As someone famous once said, we read to find out that we are not alone.” At thirty two, Matthew Reilly is the international bestselling author of seven novels: Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 7, Scarecrow, the children’s book - Hover Car Racer, and Seven Ancient Wonders. After self-publishing his first novel, Contest, his books are now published in over twenty languages and have sold over two and a half million copies. Walt Disney Pictures has optioned the film rights to Hover Car Racer. In 2005, Matthew released two books: Hell Island, a novel written specifically for the Australian Government’s ‘Books Alive’ initiative, and Seven Ancient Wonders. St Aloysius’ College represents NSW in the Australian Finals of the Tournament of Minds Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a problem-solving programme for teams of students who are required to solve demanding, open-ended challenges from a number of disciplines. This year St Aloysius’ College entered two teams into the Secondary Competition in the Language Literature and Social Science Challenges. The two teams were originally required to work together on a Long Term Challenge for six weeks. They were encouraged to explore possibilities and experiment with ideas as they endeavoured to produce their best possible solution. They developed a creative and original way to communicate this solution to others and worked within predefined parameters such as limited materials, complex challenge criteria and the deadline of Tournament Day. a l o y s i a d / p a g e 1 2
Tournament Of Minds NSW State Champions Left to right – Jourdan Wetzlar (Year 7), Zachary Parker (Year 7), Daniel Vickovich (Year 10), Jack Oakley - Captain (Year. 10), Will Comino (Year 8), Alek Breznik (Year 8) and Michael Parker (Year 8) Students presented their challenge solution to a panel of judges and an audience on Tournament Day. They had just ten minutes in which to present and they had to do so within a three metre by three metre performance area. The teams also participated in an unseen, Spontaneous Challenge. This challenge required the rapid interchange of ideas, the ability to think creatively and well-developed group cooperation skills. On Sunday 27 August the Social Science Team won a Special Award and the Language Literature Team won the Sydney North Regional Final. The Language Literature Team then went on to compete in the NSW State Final, which was held at the University of NSW on Sunday 10 September. At this event the boys participated in yet another spontaneous challenge and were given just three hours to prepare an entertaining and creative solution to a specific Language Literature problem. The boys demonstrated that they could certainly work under pressure. They showed maturity, creativity and teamwork. Their reward was the coveted NSW Tournament of Minds State Language Literature Award. On Saturday 21 October the boys represented St Aloysius’ College in the Australian Final which was held at Flinders University, South Australia. This proved to be a wonderful experience for all of the boys. Although they were unsuccessful at gaining a place at the Australian Final, first place being awarded to Walford Anglican School for Girls (SA), their solution to the Language Literature Challenge was thoughtful, imaginative and very entertaining. I accompanied the boys to Adelaide and I was very impressed with their performance. I truly believe that our boys could not have done a better job and I am very proud of all of them. Jourdan Wetzlar (Year 7), one of the members of the team broke his arm during the holidays but this did not dampen his enthusiasm. He made the effort to fly down to Adelaide the night before the Australian Final so that he did not disappoint his team. This definitely demonstrated the true Aloysius’ spirit. We also had the largest number of parent supporters who enjoyed the performance as well as a visit to the Jesuit owned Sevenhill Winery. The boys met and socialised with students from all over Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and I was pleased to see the camaraderie that developed over the four day trip. It was wonderful to see the students from the city mixing with the country students and learning about life from a different perspective. St Aloysius’ College is now the proud recipient of both the Tournament of Minds Sydney North Regional and the NSW Language Literature Awards. Needless to say, the students are very keen to compete again in 2007. Ms Linda Maher Head of Learning Enrichment Careers Day One of the major Careers functions of the year was The Lower North Shore Schools Tertiary Information Evening held on Tuesday 16 May 2006. Mendoza family with Angelo at Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College Our students and their parents were invited to attend this important function hosted by Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College at North Sydney. Mark and Neville Williams Most of the Universities in New South Wales and the ACT were in attendance. There were also representatives from Bond University, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In all, there were more than fifty exhibitors which included tertiary institutions, TAFE and private colleges who St Aloysius’ College A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 a l o y s i a d / p a g e 1 3
Page 1 and 2: ALOYSIAD The Magazine of St Aloysiu
Page 3 and 4: Guimerá was determined that no for
Page 5 and 6: demanding of all involved. Both rig
Page 7 and 8: Estelle and Sasha Conoplia (SAC 199
Page 9 and 10: with different hands-on experiments
Page 11: from the deputy principal As a staf
Page 15 and 16: These skills, capacities and unders
Page 17 and 18: Ms Carmel Amasi and the Year 8 winn
Page 19 and 20: a lot but each one of you may have
Page 21 and 22: using aboriginal picture art and th
Page 23 and 24: if-you-can-catch-the-red-back-spide
Page 25 and 26: Student Achievements (in other spor
Page 27 and 28: Volleyball The College is fielding
Page 29 and 30: Bouris, Mark Dietz, Mark Sindone, M
Page 31 and 32: cadets A Bridge to Nowhere... As I
Page 33 and 34: programmes, fliers etc that you hav
Page 35 and 36: Julius Caesar - Year 10 Co-curricul
Page 37 and 38: from the registrar Another busy yea
Page 39 and 40: From the Property Manager The Prope
Page 41 and 42: from SACOBU The Gonzaga Society Mem
Page 43 and 44: Daniel Gardon has completed Medical

Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?