Last Friday, we celebrated International Women’s Day and held a breakfast at the College. Thank you to our community for supporting this event. A special thank you also to those who led different parts of this event including Mrs Leanne Bevis, Hospitality students, Mrs Emma Lendrum, Mrs Rhana Holt, Mrs Michiko Hauser, student performers, Mrs Aleisha Tuaine, Mr Steven Lake, Mr Adrian King, Mr Brendan Delaney, Grounds and Maintenance Staff, student leaders (Year 9 and 12 Captains) and Stephanie Keenan.
On Wednesday 14th March, Year 11 student Stephanie cut her ponytail and has been raising money for the Leukaemia Foundation. At the breakfast, she delivered the following speech:
“Good morning everyone. On the 14th March I turned 16 years old, this means a learner’s licence, one year closer to finishing school and another year of growing. It’s a milestone. But imagine being unsure whether you or your child would reach this milestone, or any milestone for that matter. Leukaemia affects people of all ages and currently there is no way to cure the disease. On the 14th March along with turning 16, my mother and I cut our hair to help raise money and awareness for leukaemia.
More than 13,000 people are diagnosed with a type of blood cancer each year. 4900 of these cases will prove to be fatal, making blood cancer the third biggest cause of cancer death in Australia.
In today’s society beauty is often generally based around looks. Many believe that beauty is made up from factors such as your height, your weight and even the length of your hair. I believe beauty revolves around none of these things and every single boy, girl, mother, father, adult and child deserves to feel beautiful. Being a young person with no hair because of the effects of chemotherapy, I can only imagine would be terrifying. I want to be able to give someone the gift of hair, something so simple that so many take for granted will mean the world to someone. In 16 years I’ve not wanted to cut my hair in fear of what others will think. However, the thought that I will be gifting someone the comfort of something I take for granted eases this fear.”