‘Rise Up’ Tree Planting for World Youth Day
Senior Students from the Environmental Group had the privilege last Friday to participate in World Youth Day Adelaide celebrations. With over 100 other students from Catholic schools across Adelaide, students planted 1500 trees in the Victoria Park Wetlands! Excitingly, the seedlings were propagated from remnant vegetation at the park, meaning that they have always grown in the area. This was a fantastic opportunity to respond to Pope Francis’ call to action in his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, through revegetating local habitats and conserving our natural spaces for generations to come.
Winter Appeal and Vinnies Sleep Out
As part of their annual Winter Appeal for Vinnies and in solidarity with people who are experiencing homelessness, students in the Living Justice Living Peace Group participated in a ‘sleep out’ at the College and braved the cold for the night, sleeping in the hall. Students examined their own assumptions and biases about homelessness through reflective discussion and played a ‘Cost of Living Monopoly’ game which gave them a realistic look at what it is to live below the poverty line. Students were also visited by Hannah Yates and Rebecca Marino from Vinnies. Their presentation about poverty in South Australia and volunteering opportunities with Vinnies was informative and inspiring.This week Living Justice has also sought donations of non-perishable food items from our families, students, and staff. The response from our community was incredibly heart-warming and many people gave generously. The Living Justice Group would like to thank everyone who participated for their incredible generosity.
Student Leaders Community Cook Up
In the spirit of giving back to our community and in teaching our students about the importance of being of service to others, we hosted our annual Kildare Community Cook Up this week. It was a beautiful, wholesome, and fun day spent cooking and laughing together, as all the students adopted the roles of Head & Sous Chef, busily chopping, mashing & stirring their meals!
This year, our Year 12 Student Leadership Team and Middle Years Student Leaders baked 120 banana chocolate muffins and dished up monstrous trays of pasta bake to donate to Fred’s Van. Fred’s Van arrived at the College later in the day to collect the food we cooked for them and our Student Leaders devotedly assisted them in packing the car, as they were provided with insight into the significant impact of their act of service. Teresa Branch from St Vinnie’s shared with them that she would deliver the food directly to their evening dinner service and their meals would be enjoyed by 150 people who are either homeless, vulnerable or marginalised within our community.
Student agency and voice is at the centre of all that we do at Kildare College, and we are incredibly proud of our Student Leaders for founding and leading this annual initiative. In our reflections of the day, the students shared that it was rewarding to see and feel the fruits of their labour – it was both satisfying, self-sustaining, and as one of our Middle Years Leaders shared, “helping others is infectious!”
Our annual Kildare Community Cook Up was a great success – bringing our older & younger Student Leaders together in a collective problem-solving and generous effort at supporting the greater good, as they actively lived out our Kildare Ministries Core Values and charism. In participating and engaging in acts of service, our students stand to get back more than they give and its impact is very rewarding, as the outcomes are uniquely tangible because they play out in our students’ own backyards.
Empowering Education through Visual Arts is a strong theme at Kildare in the creative subjects of Art, Design and Photography. Visual Art plays a crucial role in expression and emotional exploration for secondary students. This in turn promotes social growth and imagination through many areas of learning.
Frida Kahlo is an iconic Mexican Artist currently being featured at the Art Gallery of South Australia. She was the theme for Visual Arts Week with her vivid representations of empowerment and self-identity. Her life is an inspiration to students to embrace their uniqueness, cultural heritage and individuality. Her work reinforces the importance of acknowledging and celebrating one’s self no matter the challenges faced.
“The most beautiful part of the body is the brain.” – Frida Kahlo
Students throughout the week were given many opportunities to be involved in activities such as painting and planting Frida themed pot plants, creating their own Nicho shrine for a personal icon, colorings competitions and a progressive flower mural. Frida Kahlo was also well known for painting flowers as she associated them with life and beauty. The week was promoted with the work of Sofiia, a Year 10 Visual Art student who is very talented painting with water colours, we thank Sofiia for her contribution. We also thank the students for getting involved and for embracing their creativeness through Visual Art activities.
With an excited buzz in the air, the Year 10 students gathered on Monday morning to head for the hills for their Connections and Adventure Camp. Over the ensuing three days there was plenty of both!
Once on site and with lunch out of the way, the girls split into their activity groups and the action began. Blessed with clear sunny days, the group tackled all manner of activities: bridge building, raft making, low ropes, team building games, archery, a giant swing and the challenge course.
In each activity there was a common theme: success in the endeavour could only come from teamwork, cooperation, problem solving and some grit.
A highlight was our night two quiz followed by what could best be described as immensely enthusiastic singing and dancing to well known songs.I would like to thank the Year 10 students and accompanying staff for their engagement and cheerful willingness to participate, communicate and connect across the three days.
