Celebrating the Joys of Teenage Boys
There are numerous articles about boys, often which focus on the “trouble with teenage boys”. Unfortunately, this negative stereotype can have a detrimental impact on boys’ self-belief and esteem. We can believe in gender equality and, at the same time, celebrate and acknowledge the joyful differences.
In 2012, Winifred Robinson, a BBC Radio presenter and journalist, shared her thoughts on the joys of teenage boys which, I think, are really pertinent today.
A shared opinion is that boisterous, uninhibited, loyal boys are in reality a joyful contrast to the too often reported stereotype of the stroppy, self-conscious, selfish and self-indulgent adolescent stereotype.
The essence of what it is to be a teenage boy is having fun with your friends and family. Teenage boys are more playful than a man, but more powerful than a child. They are full of exuberance and fun.
Teenage boyhood is a fleeting interlude — a time when boys are open to almost anything, wide-eyed and daring. We don’t often allow ourselves positive thoughts about teenage boys. Too readily we associate them with street muggings, binge drinking, education failure, sexual aggression or drugs. We tend to fear groups of lads on street corners.
Not only do teenage boys too often receive a bad press, but they are struggling to adjust to a world which, in many ways, has left them behind. Outshone by girls at school and university, if they aren’t lucky enough to be academic, they find that the well-paid manual work which used to be their domain has begun to disappear.
Despite these hurdles, most boys are completely innocent, unthreatening and a joy to be around. Most adolescent boys today are much better equipped – emotionally and practically – to deal with relationships with people than was previous generations.
Another difference from the teens of old is that today’s teenage boys are living at a time when gender equality is expected and is to be unquestioned. They have grown up with girls as friends and regard them as equals. They also have mums who go out to work, and it’s more common for couples to share the cooking, housework and childcare, so boys will often happily do the same as they see the men in their lives doing.
However, boys suffer continually through negative comparisons with girls, the things which make them uniquely male going unnoticed or uncelebrated. Even as they approach adulthood, boys remain boisterous and childlike. Little girls often can’t wait to grow up, worrying about their appearance, eager to wear make-up and high heels. A boy, by contrast, keeps one foot in childhood well into his teens (some would say for life). For a teenage boy, starting to think about his appearance often means no more than accepting, at long last, that he should wash occasionally – and find hair product he can bear to use.
Boys sometimes can be horrible but, rather than being spiteful or nasty, they usually hurt each other physically, with a nudge or a play fight that turns serious. They can also be incredibly loyal to one another when one in the group is feeling unsure or left out. They look for things they can share, like computer games they can play without too much talking as a good way to break the ice. They are often great fun with younger children too, playing games, playing the fool and enjoying getting back down to their level.
Perhaps it is time to celebrate the wonders of teenage boys, stop comparing boys and girls and letting them be who they are on their own terms. Go on; in return they will amaze you!
Friends of Holy Cross Annual General Meeting
Parents and Guardians are invited to the Friends of Holy Cross Wine and Cheese Evening (5:30pm) and Annual General Meeting, which will be held immediately following the College Board AGM in the San Salvador Building on Tuesday, 28 November 2017.
We have all heard of the African proverb that: “It takes a village to raise a child”. Well, the key to the Holy Cross Village is our parent body, The Friends of Holy Cross. The Friends of Holy Cross is an essential part of the College providing valuable support for College functions, building a positive community spirit and raising much needed funds to provide items that would not normally be afforded. The AGM is your opportunity to find out more about the success of the Friends of Holy Cross over the past year and, perhaps, nominate for a position on the Council for 2018.
Nominate to Serve on the Friends of Holy Cross Committee or Councils
The Friends of Holy Cross invites you to nominate yourself for election to serve the community as a Committee or Council member. Please notify the College Office prior to the meeting if you are willing and able to serve on the Committee or Councils. A copy of the Friends of Holy Cross Commitment Form for 2018 was sent home with students on Friday, 10 November 2017. Additional copies are available from the College Office.
The College is grateful to the Friends of Holy Cross College for fostering such a strong community spirit and for the many fundraisers and social events undertaken throughout the year. Mrs Susan Sorenson has led the team for the past three years and has continued to build a formidable team of parents and friends. Mrs Sorensen will conclude her time as president of the Friends of Holy Cross this year and we thank her for her tireless work and outstanding leadership. If you have strong leadership skills and an enthusiasm for building community spirit, please nominate for President or for any other role that suits your interests and talents.
College Board Annual General Meeting
The Holy Cross College Board Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Tuesday, 28 November 2017 commencing at 6.30pm in the San Salvador Building, immediately following the Friends of Holy Cross Wine & Cheese event.
The College Board AGM is an opportunity to gain an insight into the past year’s activities, particularly in respect to finances and capital development, as well as some understanding of the future direction of the College and the 2018 budget. Additionally, the election of new board members will be held to fill vacant positions. Membership is for two years, where members can nominate for a further two terms, but cannot serve more than six years consecutively.
Call for nominations to the College Board
Mr Adam Bolton and Mr Shane Adams complete their first two-year term. Mrs Jean Topliss leaves the Board to join the College staff in the Capacity of Business Manager. The composition of the Board will increase by one additional member, making four positions available in 2018.
Therefore, the College Board is seeking competent and dedicated people to fill four positions on the Board. If you have an interest in the future development of Holy Cross College as a College of excellence in all endeavours of Learning, Inter-relationships, Faith and Enrichment, especially with an acumen in finances and property, please indicate your intention by contacting the College Office or by completing the reply slip on the letter sent home with students on Friday, 10 November 2017.
Board members must have the ability to work cooperatively and constructively with all other members of the Board. Board members, of course, must be willing and able to give their time to Board duties. A copy of the Catholic School Board Constitution can be found on the College website or by clicking on the link below:
Remembrance Day 2017
Remembrance Day 2017 will be held on Saturday 11 November and will mark 99 years since the signing of the armistice that officially saw the end of the First World War in 1918. The students and staff of Holy Cross College marked this occasion on Friday 10 November with a service on the College Boulevard at 11.00am around the flag poles, observing a minute’s silence, praying for the courage of the dead and wounded across all wars.
The first Remembrance Day was conducted in 1919 throughout the Commonwealth. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of hostilities (the signing of the armistice) which occurred on 11 November 1918. It came to symbolise the end of the war and provide an opportunity to remember those who died.
According to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, "After the end of World War II, the Australian and British governments changed the name to Remembrance Day. Armistice Day was no longer an appropriate title for a day which would commemorate all war dead.”
"In October 1997, the Governor-General issued a proclamation declaring 11 November as Remembrance Day and urging Australians to observe one minute's silence at 11.00 am on Remembrance Day each year to remember the sacrifice of those who died or otherwise suffered in Australia's cause in wars and war-like conflicts."
Junior School students made poppies to reflect on the significance of the sacrifice made by our soldiers. The story of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance is steeped in history.
During the First World War (1914–1918) much of the fighting took place in Western Europe. Previously beautiful countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over, again and again. The landscape swiftly turned to fields of mud: bleak and barren scenes where little or nothing could grow.
Bright red Flanders poppies however, were delicate but resilient flowers and grew in their thousands, flourishing even in the middle of chaos and destruction. In early May 1915, shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, a Canadian doctor, Lt Col John McCrae was inspired by the sight of poppies to write a now famous poem called 'In Flanders Fields'.
In Flanders Field
In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' Fields.
McCrae’s poem inspired an American academic, Moina Michael, to make and sell red silk poppies which have become a symbol of remembrance and are often sold to raise funds to assist war veterans with housing and wellbeing services.
Tomorrow, Saturday 11 November 2017, we encourage all members of the Holy Cross College community to pause for a minute’s silence at 11.00am to remember the ultimate sacrifice of the brave men and women who fought so that we can be free and enjoy the riches of our peaceful and lucky country.
Lest we forget.
Annual Celebration Night
The Holy Cross College Annual Celebration Night was held on the evening of Thursday 26 October 2017. The weather presented significant challenges with damp conditions and strong winds. However, with a little bit of lateral thinking and ingenuity the San Salvador Undercroft was transformed into a warm and acoustically sound auditorium. With a packed house, the evening commenced with a powerful liturgy depicting many parallels in the life journey’s of Jesus Christ and Oscar Romero.
The Annual Celebration Night aims to acknowledge the academic achievements and efforts of students throughout the 2017 school year. We congratulate all award winners. We especially congratulate Gabriella-Rose van der Linde on being awarded the Oscar Romero Medal, which is the highest award presented on the night and is awarded to the student who epitomises all that the College strives to be. Congratulations are also extended to the 2018 College Captains, Chloe Ryan and Cian Guest, Life Captains, House Captains and Life Leaders. The Graduating Class of 2017 were presented with their Graduation Certificates following their Graduation Mass held in the previous week. The presence of our special guests and families made for a very enjoyable and memorable night.
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In recent years there has been a revival of superhero movies from Marvel and DC Comics. What is it about superheroes that we all love and admire? Essentially, it is that they are people who lead normal, ordinary lives, but are able to draw on an inner strength or power that enables them to accomplish amazing feats of goodness and triumph against evil. Clark Kent is an ordinary everyday newspaper reporter before donning his tights to become Superman. A mod boutique owner, Diana Prince draws on a mythical and spiritual past to become Wonder Woman, renowned for her lasso of truth. As Spiderman, Peter Parker, the shy, insecure and lonely College student dealing with the normal struggles of youth, had to learn for himself that with great power comes great responsibility to do good.
While these characters might be fictitious there are many real life Superheroes. Mahatma Ghandi used his amazing power of patience and non-violence to defeat the Colonialist and win freedom for the Indian people. Martin Luther King is another modern day superhero, who claimed that “nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding, and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals”. Many other Superheroes that drew on an inner wisdom, strength or spirit, often in times of danger or hardship, include Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Nelson Mandela.
In recent times we have begun to honour the Superheroes of our society for their amazing feats of bravery and acts of kindness.
People such as:
- Mrs Editha Aquino who, on the morning of 18 June 2007, went to the assistance of a woman being attacked in Melbourne;
- On the night of 30 April 2006, Mr Paul Fitzgerald rescued a woman from a burning house at Conder, Australian Capital Territory;
- On the afternoon of 8 June 2007, Paul Devereux and the crew of the Newcastle Harbour Tugboat 'Watagan' assisted in the rescue of a fishing boat during a severe storm; and
- Gwen Abikhair received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2005 for giving more than 30 years of service to people with disabilities.
While all of these people are just ordinary people they are real life Superheroes because of their amazing acts of bravery and kindness.
People who do spontaneous acts of bravery and kindness often downplay suggestions of being superheroes and remark that “they just reacted to the situation and anyone else would do the same”. True or not, we all have the gifts of the spirit, which we need to nurture and develop and learn, just like Peter Parker, that with great power comes great responsibility to do good. As ordinary people we too can be superheroes.
We look to our College patrons as role models for inspiration, motivation and guidance in our lives. Perhaps we could emulate some of their most amazing characteristics. Our College patrons were ordinary people who achieved extraordinary things in their lives. They are superheroes who we can admire and call on when we need help.
Throughout 2017, we have been honouring the life of our College Patron, Oscar Romero, a real superhero of our time. 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. Oscar Romero was an ordinary man who demonstrated extraordinary courage and nerve to stand up against the powerful oligarchs in El Salvador to seek justice for the poor and oppressed people of his country.
He began as a conservative, but events changed him. He became archbishop of San Salvador in 1977 at a time when community leaders and priests who spoke out over the nation’s extreme and pervasive poverty were being killed by death squads funded by the country’s exploitative coffee barons. Rural peasants and urban demonstrators were massacred on the streets by the army. Political prisoners were kidnapped and tortured. Churches were desecrated, and diocesan radio stations and newspapers bombed. Romero spoke out against all that. To the repressive elite, he was a communist in a cassock. He was shot dead at the altar by a paid assassin.
While civil war raged for a further 12 years after Romero’s death, his voice continued to resonate in El Salvador and around the world. On 15 March 2009, the president of El Salvador announced that his government would be inspired by Romero and the “option for the poor” - choosing to put the most vulnerable people first.
On May 23 2015, Pope Francis announced that Oscar Romero was a martyr, and he was beatified in El Salvador. Pope Francis sent a letter, that was read out during the beatification ceremony, saying all those who hold Archbishop Romero “as a friend in faith, who invoke him in as protector and intercessor, who admire him, should find in him strength and energy to build the Kingdom of God”.
In these words, Pope Francis is talking directly to us, the community of Holy Cross College, as we seek to build the Kingdom of God through the inspirational life of Oscar Romero, a real superhero of our time.
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In just a few short years since Holy Cross College opened in 2010, the school has established a faith story that is as rich as schools that have been operating for one-hundred years. Our story is clearly centred in Christ, with the Holy Cross focussing all our attention and efforts on living life to the full, as revealed by Jesus Christ. Our College Patrons show us that a deep faith in Jesus can inspire ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. Other rituals such as Friday Gospel, Prayers, Masses and Liturgies, and our Pilgrimage Walks serve to strengthen and embellish our faith story. In particular, walking the Camino Salvado has become a distinctive faith tradition at Holy Cross College to the point other schools are beginning to emulate it.
The Camino Salvado is about spiritual reflection, connection and renewal. It follows the Pilgrims Trail from St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco to New Norcia. The trail is approximately 180kms long and travels through the City past places of historical interest and out of the metropolitan area along the beautiful Swan river foreshore. It travels past Bells Rapids through the Walyunga National Park and the Chittering Valley to Julimar Forest, and then via the Old Plains Rd into New Norcia.
In Spain, Pilgrims who complete the entire Camino receive a specially designed certificate called a Compostella when the journey is completed for religious or spiritual reasons and a certificadoif completed for other motivations.
Next year’s Year 12’s, the Graduating Class of 2018, will be the first group to complete the Camino as a year level. During Annual Celebration Evening we recongised a small number of people who completed the whole trail this year by presenting them with the Holy Cross Compostella.
Two students from the Class of 2017 made a special effort to complete the extra sections required to complete the whole journey.
Students
- Logan Kain
- Nikkie Lukanga
Four staff members also complete the entire journey in 2017.
Staff
- Anna Amatulli
- Geraldine Nolan
- Cathie Lewis
- Simon Falcone
We congratulate our Pilgrims on their magnificent achievement.
We look forward to presenting many students with their Holy Cross Compostella in the coming years.
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the College community for your contribution to the Life of the College throughout 2017. I am grateful to the College Board for overseeing the Capital Development and Finances, particularly throughout the period enormous construction and development in recent years. I am also grateful to the Friends of Holy Cross College for building a strong community spirit and for the many fundraisers and social events undertaken throughout the year. Mrs Susan Sorenson has led the team for the past three years and has continued to build a formidable team of parents and friends. Mrs Sorensen considers herself an expert at sausage sizzles. Mrs Sorensen will conclude her time as president of the Friends of Holy Cross this year and we thank her for her tireless work and outstanding leadership.
I would also like to thank the staff, both teaching and support staff, for the awesome job they do throughout the year and their generosity of time and spirit. We are truly fortunate to have such a talented and enthusiastic group of people. I am particularly grateful for the support of the Senior Leadership Team – Mr Paul Murphy, Ms Anita O’Donohue, Ms Kylie Henderson, Mrs Vanja Basell and Mr James Parsons, especially during my time as Acting Principal.
A number of people conclude their time at Holy Cross College at the end of the Year:
Mrs Marnie Barratt concludes her time at Holy Cross College after joining the staff in June this year. Mrs Barratt has made an enormous impact in such a short time, especially in the Health & Physical Education Learning Area, and we would be delighted to see you back at Holy Cross in the near future.
Mrs Deborah Boylen leaves to take up a position at another new Catholic School, Mother Teresa Catholic College, Baldivis. Mrs Boylen has a particular affinity with students in the Middle School and has made an enormous impact on the lives of many students.
Mr Liam Benton is returning to Victoria to continue his career and to be closer to his family. Mr Benton has demonstrated skills beyond his years and will be deeply missed, especially by the College Senior Band and Chemistry students. Mr Benton was very conscious of safety and health procedures making sure we practiced our Emergency Evacuation drill, setting the alarms off on at least two occasions while conducting science experiments.
Mrs Jacqui Sanders, College Business Manager, has had an immeasurable impact on the College since commencing in 2012. Mrs Sanders has overseen the construction of some significant and complex building projects, in addition to changes to accounting practices and the rapid growth in staff and students. Her confidence and strength of character, and her sometimes irreverent sense of humour, will be sorely missed.
Mr Harry Muller concludes his time at Holy Cross College and will retire after taking some short leave next year. Mr Muller joined the staff of Holy Cross College in its foundation year and has made a significant contribution to the College, especially in the areas of Religious Education and Ministry. He was instrumental in developing many elements of the College’s rich faith story. Mr Muller has many talents, not the least is his musical talents for singing and playing the piano for Masses and Liturgies. Mr Muller oversaw the Giving Life program, ensuring our students leave the College with a spirit of compassion and volunteerism. He worked with our student leaders to help build the leaders of tomorrow. He also joined the first College Camino tour to Spain, walking from Tui to Santiago de Compostella. Mr Muller prides himself on being known as the GOM – the Grumpy Old Man, but some have taken the acronym to mean Guru of Ministry. Every morning Mr Muller makes sure he acknowledges everyone, bowing and saying hello. I know this will be sincerely missed.
Mr Muller began his career in Catholic Education in 1976 as a Science teacher at Mazenod College, Lesmurdie. In addition to Mazenod College, he has made an impact on the lives of students and staff at La Salle College, St Norbert College, St Brigid’s College, Lumen Christi College and the Catholic Education Office.
During the Annual Celebration Evening Dr Tony Curry, Director of School Improvement, Catholic Education Western Australia, was invited to present Mr Muller with a framed certificate and medallion on behalf of the Executive Director of Catholic Education, acknowledging more than 40 years of service to Catholic Education in Western Australia.
As previously mentioned, the most prestigious award presented at Annual Celebration Evening is presented to a student who epitomises all that the College strives to be. That is, during their time at the College they have lived out the College values of Dignity, Personal Best, Connection, Compassion, Justice, Service, Gratitude and Stewardship. Like Oscar Romero, they exemplify the spirit and motto of the College to live Life to the Full. To further acknowledge Mr Muller’s long career in Catholic Education and, especially his contribution to Holly Cross College, Dr Curry presented Mr Muller with a specially minted Oscar Romero Medal.
We congratulate Mr Muller on his extensive commitment to Catholic education and wish him the very best in his retirement. I am sure he will continue to make a valuable contribution to Catholic Education.
Finally, I thank our parents and guardians for your ongoing support and participation throughout the year and I wish everyone the very best for the remainder of the Spring Term and the lead up to Christmas.