Mary MacKillop College

Old Scholars’ Association

Email: mmcosa@marymackillop.sa.edu.au

Facebook: Mary MacKillop College Kensington Old Scholars Association

Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion Annual Reunion

Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner

Friday 28 October Friday 28 October 20112011

Gather your tables and book nowGather your tables and book nowGather your tables and book nowGather your tables and book now

A special welcome to the classes of A special welcome to the classes of A special welcome to the classes of A special welcome to the classes of 2001, 1991, 1981, 1971, 1961 2001, 1991, 1981, 1971, 1961 2001, 1991, 1981, 1971, 1961 2001, 1991, 1981, 1971, 1961 and and and and 1951195119511951

More details inside Bookings close 19 October

Contact MMCOSA for help making contact with your fellow students

August 2011August 2011August 2011August 2011

Mary MacKillop Mary MacKillop Mary MacKillop Mary MacKillop Feast Day Mass 8 AugustFeast Day Mass 8 AugustFeast Day Mass 8 AugustFeast Day Mass 8 August

Complete the booking form below and return

with payment by 19 October to:

MMCOSA

Mary MacKillop College

PO Box 4034

Norwood South SA 5068

Phone: 8333 6300

Fax: 8364 3863

Enquiries and Email:

mmcosa@marymackillop.sa.edu.au

MMCOSA welcomes all past Students, Staff and

Friends (partners are welcome) to join together

in the Annual Reunion Dinner

Date: Friday, 28th October 2011

Venue: John DiFede Reception Centre

10 Freebairn Street

Windsor Gardens SA 5087

Time: 7pm -11pm

Cost: $60

Bookings close Wednesday 19 October 2011

Annual Reunion

Dinner 2011

Mary MacKillop College Old Scholars Association

Name: ________________________________Table booked in name of: __________________________________

nee: ____________ Address: _________________________________________________ __________

Suburb: ______________________________ Postcode: ____________ Phone No: __________________________

Email: _____________________________ Year of leaving: _____________

Dietary Requirements: __________________________________________________________________________

Number of people attending: ___________ (please list all names on reverse) Cost: _____________

Payment: Cheque Cash Credit Visa/MasterCard Payment in full with booking please

Credit card holder: ____________________________Credit card No: _____________________________________

Credit card expiry date: ________________ Signature: _________________________________________________

Photographs taken at the MMCOSA Dinner may be included in newsletters of the Mary MacKillop College Old Scholars’ Association

Portrait by Margaret Rennie © Mary MacKillop College 2009

Our school companions, after family, were probably the key formative

persons in our development. An ongoing revisiting, however spasmodic,

of those formative shared experiences helps us to understand ourselves.

This is one of the most important values of an Old Scholars Association.

May 14th is the first anniversary of the death of an old scholar,

Maureen Keane, who was loyal to the College through its development

from St Joseph’s Higher Primary / St Joseph’s High School in Bridge St to

Mary MacKillop College in its present location. For Maureen, location and

name were not the key issues. It was the heart of what the school/college

stood for that she espoused.

When school opened at the beginning of 1952 two girls from the country, where a State School education

was the only option, and who had only ever met two religious sisters in their lives, were welcomed to

Bridge St. by Sister Teresita and taken out to be introduced to Maureen Keane whose task was to make

them welcome, to care for them and to introduce them to other students. That was the beginning of a

friendship between Maureen, my sister, Ellen, and me that continued for the rest of our lives.

Maureen’s death last May, from an aggressive form of motor neurone disease was sudden and a shock to

us all. During her short time at Mary Potter Hospice she started to write an autobiography. She

commenced it with a quote from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Travelled”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the difference

She then states that “for reasons best known to myself the lines have served as a metaphor for my life.”

One could begin by contradicting her and saying that hers was a road well travelled, because travelling

was a key part of her life. From 1965 to a few months before her death Maureen visited many parts of

the world. My own memory enables me to name England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Greece, United

States, New Zealand, Noumea, Japan, Hong Kong, Fiji, Taiwan, Israel, India, Egypt, Alaska, Canada, Spain,

(some of them visited several times) and I know there are many others. These major journeys were

interspersed with more local travels within Australia, including a months camping between Adelaide,

Broome, Darwin and Alice Springs (“once was enough” she said)

However, Maureen’s life was in many ways “a road less travelled”

It was “a road less travelled” in the sense as Maureen said “Partners and children have not been mine,

but I have been blessed with a loving family and loyal friends. God and life have been good to me

It was “a road less travelled” in the sense that few have achieved her academic excellence. Her years

at Adelaide University, where she completed an Arts Degree and a Diploma of Secondary Education, she

described as “the great years when you could set the world to right without actually having to be

responsible for it.”

Her three years teaching at Henley High School convinced her that her career should take a different

path. In her words “after being a rebellious student, I was paid out with equivalent students whom I

found very difficult to discipline – still think the nuns had an easier time with us.” She worked for a year

in The Barr Smith Library, and followed that by six months in the Library of the House of Commons,

London. Returning home Maureen became Principal Librarian of the Adelaide Teachers College Library,

remaining with it through its many amalgamations and name changes to become the South Australian

College of Advanced Education, where she moved into academic administration as a policy analyst.

Maureen Keane 1952-1956

From 1984 she worked partly in that unit and partly as a lecturer in librarianship. When the

SACAE became part of the University of SA, Maureen continued lecturing in library manage-

ment. Throughout her working life she added to her original Degree and Diploma an Advanced

Diploma in Education, a Master of Librarianship (she was the first Monash University’s gradu-

ate in this field), a Master of Business Administration, and PhD from the Adelaide University.

More importantly, Maureen’s life was “a road less travelled” in what her lifelong friends from

Adelaide Uni. days described in her eulogy as the key to her character – She put others first.

She had a strong commitment to and love for her family, both her immediate family and her

relatives in Ireland and elsewhere. She didn’t talk a lot about her own feelings, but it was obvi-

ous from the way she followed their progress, looked forward to their phone calls, letters,

visits and outings, and the way she spoke about them, that their happiness and wholeness was

key to her life.

Maureen always welcomed people and was interested in what was happening in their lives. She

had the ability to make whoever she was with, and what was important to them the subject of

the conversation, so that people left her presence feeling that their life was important and

interesting. One could always rely on her to carry out the task she had committed herself to,

despite the fact that she always described herself as “having a brain like a sieve”. Maureen

accepted others as they were and did her best to offer help and advice if that was at all

possible. The generosity with which she responded to family and friends was also lavished on

many others in the community. Her “hands on” response to many people through her work in the

St Vincent de Paul Society was done with respect and in a spirit of generosity. She not only

distributed to the needy what others had contributed, but included in her response much from

her own resources. Her contribution to parish and the wider community was not just in the pro-

vision of resources, but was often in the form of carrying out the chores that are time-

consuming and mundane. Despite the fact that household chores were not her favourite

occupation she volunteered to dust the church pews and was happy to spend time doing those

tasks that “had to be done by someone within the community”. Maureen’s regard for others was

evident, when all seemed to have been taken from her and she could no longer speak, when the

message conveyed to those who sat with her was not what was happening to her but rather

“I know this is hard for you.”

As was said by her lifelong friends “All this perhaps makes Maureen sound much more serious

than she was, even pious. But she wasn’t like that at all. She had a rather wicked sense of

humour that came out at the most unexpected times.” She was perceptive, could read motiva-

tions and see the funny side of most situations – but this was not done in a judgmental way. She

usually turned other people’s foibles into a joke about herself. This she was doing when her only

means of communication was to print on a whiteboard and when we all convinced her that for

the first time in our own lives we could read her writing.

To return to where this tribute began, Maureen was a school companion who was instrumental in

striving to keep former connections alive and her interest in the welfare and life of each

person enabled many of us to revisit those past experiences and to contact again those people

who contributed so much to who we are. The many who walked the journey with Maureen will

continue to miss her, because she was a friend whose sense of humour, loyalty and generosity

of spirit brought a smile at all times.

Catherine Clark RSJ

It was with much

pleasure that MMCOSA

was honoured to award

life membership to

Sr Teresita Cormack (here with Sr Margart Kenny)

at our Friday in the Courtyard

gathering in February.

Sr Teresita has been a loyal and

constant supporter of MMCOSA

through several generations of

students. Many years ago she was

one of the first to embrace

communication by email and still

maintains an active interest in

past students of the College.

We again look forward to a great reunion dinner on Friday 28 October.

Help us to make it a success. Please invite your friends, gather your tables and finalise bookings

by 19 October. Our MMCOSA network is expanding, see our Facebook group or let us know if

we can help you make contact with school friends. Thank you in anticipation to those who act as

table co-ordinators and year group contacts. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you too to those who have contributed articles and news for this newsletter. Let us know

what has happened since you left school. New faces are always welcome to join our committee,

we meet for about an hour at the College at 6pm on the first Monday of each month.

This year the committee group is working to set a future path for MMCOSA. A draft

vision statement is included here. Let us know your thoughts.

MMCOSA VISION

The Mary MacKillop Old Scholars Association embraces and passes on the living

tradition of the College community in the spirit of St Mary MacKillop.

It encourages life long links amongst its members and has a special relationship with the

Sisters of St Joseph.

The Association fosters justice and compassion, hospitality and concern for those in need.

Therefore the Old Scholars Association aims:

• to build and encourage the network of members

• to assist Mary MacKillop College and it’s pupils in any manner which may be practicable

• to promote and encourage a variety of social activities among the members of the Association

• to provide positive role models/mentors for our current student body

• to raise funds to support the vision and objectives of the association

From your committeeFrom your committeeFrom your committeeFrom your committee

Loretta Mongelli (Class of 1999) and Nicholas De Palma married at The Monastery of St Paul on Sunday 5th December 2010

Maid of honor was the bride’s sister Daniella Mongelli,

Best Man was grooms brother Paul De Palma, grooms men was Nick Mezzino

and flower girl was baby Daina Rozitis accompanied by Tijana & Bonnie

Radibratovic. They celebrated their reception at Sfera’s function centre with

family and friends and Cruised to New Zealand for their Honeymoon.

Loretta is the daughter of Angelina Mongelli, of Woodville,

Nicholas’s parents are Peter and Albina De Palma, of Rostrevor.

Breeana Gleeson Class of 2009

While receiving awards for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Service to

Sport and The Caltex All Rounder, this Prefect’s number one passion was

basketball. 2009 saw her not only complete Year 12, but tour with the

SASI Basketball Team to the United States to play against College teams

from the States, Germany and France.

Breeana won a scholarship in 2010 to study at Young Harris College in Geor-

gia, USA and has recently returned to Australia for her summer break and

to address the students at MMC. She shared with our girls the importance

of maintaining a high academic record while spending long days of training to

maintain the highest standard in basketball. The girls were thrilled to see

Breeana in action on a DVD of one of the games in which she threw the winning goal to celebrate vic-

tory for the Young Harris Team. Students and staff were particularly excited to hear the game call

where a strong American accent announced Gleeson, from Adelaide, Australia who went to Mary MacK-

illop College.

Breeana is a true Josephite girl who attended St Joseph’s Payenham in primary school and in the

words of their Principal Mr Laurie Zammit “She has done us proud!” The Mary MacKillop Old Scholars

Association wish Breeana all the best for her future

Class of 1970 Class of 1970 Class of 1970 Class of 1970 ReunionReunionReunionReunion earlier this earlier this earlier this earlier this

year year year year

I would like to sincerely thank the school for the privilege and the

opportunity to speak to you all here today. It is still difficult to

reconcile myself with the idea that, for the first time in five years, this

isn’t my beginning of year mass. That my schooling journey is complete,

and has culminated in this, is still sinking in. Being the school dux is a

great honour, and one of which I am genuinely proud and grateful to

have received. As such, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge

here all of the people who helped me achieve this- namely my teachers,

my family and my friends. All of who were present at every stage of my

stressful year 12 journey.

However, while I am honoured by this status and this award, I can’t help but remember the

values that were instilled in me throughout my schooling at a Josephite college, values best

summed up in St Mary Mackillop’s words ‘never see a need without doing something about it’. In this saying, repeated at almost every school function I can remember, there is no reference

to academic success. This quote, which is so demonstrative of our school’s values, speaks of

charity, community and empathy, as the most important qualities that any person and any

establishment can boast.

In our society, there is a tendency to judge a school’s quality and worth based on their academic

success, and the number of merits their students receive. However, as we ourselves have been

taught, there is so much more to a good school than these. Far too often in this day and age,

people fall into the trap of judging others, and indeed schools such as our own by numbers, not

values. Figures such as TERs, or bank statements or promotions seem to be taking the place of

morals and principles and past deeds when it comes to evaluating a person’s character.

One of the largest advantages of our school is that it resists this trap, and concentrates not

solely on producing academically successful students, but individuals who will contribute to their

community, rather than focus on personal advancement.

If we as a generation wish to develop our society to be one which values justice and equality, we

need people with these beliefs, not only people who topped their classes, or strive constantly for

recognition and success in their chosen fields. I doubt anybody remembers or even knows how

Nelson Mandela did in school, or whether or not Martin Luther King topped his classes. It is

people’s values, and the actions they perform as a result of those values, which are remembered,

and it is this message that our school tries so hard to instil in us.

So to all the students of Mary Mackillop College- try your hardest. Aim for the stars

academically. But always remember that the age old adage is true- actions speak louder than

words, and it is your actions, not your marks or your report cards, which will define the sort of

person you are in this stage of your life.

Nadia Baldassi-Winderlich

We were saddened by the death of old scholar Marie Morgan (1958-62) in May

2011. Marie was a valued and much loved former staff member and friend of the

College community. Marie left a significant position with the Bank of SA to help the Sisters at

Mary MacKillop College for two weeks. She stayed for thirty years until her retirement in 1999

with poor health.

Staff fondly remember individual, hand written notes from Marie telling them that she would

transfer their pay earlier so that they had time to do some shopping for Christmas.

Marie’s contribution to our College is incalculable.

Marie is the sister of Sr Pauline Morgan who taught at Mary MacKillop College and was the first

Chair of our board until she was appointed Provincial Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph in

Western Australia. Marie’s younger sister Kathryn is also an old scholar and their father, Jack,

was a voluntary maintenance worker at the College for many years.

We extend our prayers and sympathy to Sr Pauline, Kathryn and all Marie’s family.

Robyn Carroll Director of School Development

Thanks to those who supported our movie screenings, Harry Potter and

more recently, Jane Eyre. This delightful new movie, featuring Mia

Wasikowska, has many of us again reading Charlotte Bronte’s classic.

We thank Bob Parr and the Wallis staff of the Chelsea Cinema for

their ongoing support of MMCOSA. In June this year Bob was

honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service

to the community as a contributor to charitable fundraising activities.

Our heartiest congratulations!

Class of 1977Class of 1977Class of 1977Class of 1977 Where are you?

Please contact

Liz Dawson via MMCOSA

email or Facebook page

Marie Morgan 1958-1962

Year 9 in 2002Year 9 in 2002Year 9 in 2002Year 9 in 2002 Chiara Barr would like to

contact her classmates

from year 9 in 2002,

via our Facebook page

Prof Trudy Kriven 1962-1966 Professor of Material Science and

Engineering at the University of Illinois,

addressed the College assembly during

a recent lecture tour and visit home to

Australia. Trudy encouraged a love a

learning and inspired the students to

follow their dreams and realise their

potential, especially in science.