Building Futures - Merici College

Teen chefs conquer fearEight Year 12 girls have been selectedto contest the final of this year’sTeenChef competition, which issponsored by Belconnen Fresh FoodMarkets. Four Canberra teams havebeen chosen, two from Merici, onefrom Alfred Deakin High School andone from Canberra High School.Recently all contestants went toCooking Coordinates at BelconnenMarkets to watch well-known localCHALLENGE YOURSELFCo-Curricular Activitieschef, Tom Moore formerly of Sage,Grazing and now of Knead Patisserie,prepare a surprise dish that eachteam has to replicate. The girls beganthe day intimidated by the prospectof completing a fourth dish in theone hour time frame. They werealready challenged by the criteria,completing a three course menu fortwo people in an hour, now they havea mushroom and leek risotto added tothe challenge. They carefully watchedTom prepare the dish, took copiousnotes and asked many questions inpreparation for the numerous practicesthey will do before the contest on 8July. Our girls will have to spend thebeginning of their winter break atschool, honing their skills, masteringtheir mise en place and perfectingtheir timing to create eight perfectmeals all within an hour and at a costof under $60.All Year 12 Hospitality studentsentered the TeenChef competitionas part of an assessment task. Theirchoice of recipes was influenced bythe work of award winning chefs andthe resulting menus were impressive.At our Bridge Restaurant we are ableto practise the recipes. Chefs like SeanMoran, Tetsuya Wakuda, Neil Perry,Christine Manfield and Skye Gyngellhave had an impact on the menusand Bridge guests are blown away bythe quality of the food produced byour girls. The experience has had atremendous impact on the studentsand their understanding of theindustry. Though nerve-racking, theyhave already learned enough to makethe experience worthwhile.Virginia McLeodSupervising TeacherStop Press Stop Press Stop Press Stop PressMerici wins 1st and 2nd placeLivin’ la Vida Loca, or is thatLivin’ la Sfida?!As parents, we may dream of Livin’the Crazy Life with (or without) RickyMartin, but the reality is that we haveto deal with the many challenges lifethrows at us. Many of us even embracechallenge. Merici’s La Sfida ‘challenge’program is in its second year. It isnot a program restricted to the mostacademically proficient students, but isopen to all students who want towork beyond the regular activities ofthe classroom.Dr Judy Willis MD, MEd, presenteda stimulating series of seminarson The Brain and Learning at the8th Annual Hawker BrownlowEducation Conference held recentlyin Melbourne. It was inspiring tohear a neurologist’s view of educationand how we educate our students.Key to good teaching practice is anunderstanding of its purpose.‘Students … need new skills for thecoming century … to be ready tocollaborate with others on a globallevel to find creative solutions toproblems now and in the future …Schools need to provide opportunitiesfor collaboration and communication– first in the classroom and thenbeyond to develop these skills.’ (WillisJ (2007) 10 Points for PresidentObama, http://www.radteach.com/page14/page38/page38.html)These are important considerationsin all classes, but our goal with LaSfida is to have individual or groupsof students identify projects thatthey would like to undertake thatallow them to challenge themselves.These can be within one subject areaor cross-curricular. Teachers maygently encourage students towardsprojects. From experience, theseprojects usually have significantaspects of collaboration requiringgood communication skills. Ourpresentation evening, a great successlast year, will be held in Semester 2and showcases student projects andoffers another forum for students tocommunicate their learning to a newaudience; fellow students, teachers andparents. If your daughter is copingwell with her study workload and hasa drive to challenge herself, we wouldencourage her to talk to a teacher whocan mentor her through a project.Current undertakings include theBlack Mountain School projectwhere 22 Year 9 Religious Educationstudents work once a week to supportBlack Mountain students in all aspectsof their school routine. A team iscurrently being prepared for the DaVinci Decathlon and Mr Barlow hasled students through the recentMaths Challenge.Ann ClearyAssistant Principal11