Students usher at Catholic Education Week
July 24, 2008
Five Year 11 students will usher the launch of Catholic Education Week 2008 at ACU National's Holy Spirit Chapel on July 29, 2008.
Principal Daryl Hanly said the students were required to perform various ushering duties including directing guests to and from the car park, to the chapel and to their seats.
"It is a great honour for Nudgee students to be selected to assist with ushering duties for such a wonderful event," Mr Hanly said.
"As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition, we are obviously very supportive of any initiatives that allow us to focus on the benefits of a Catholic education."
Mr Hanly stressed Catholic Education at Nudgee is not just about the obvious religious aspects of the College such as Masses, retreats and Religious Education classes.
"While those things are very important, our belief is that the ethos of a Catholic Education influences pastoral care, relationships between teacher and students and even the way that boys conduct themselves on the sporting field," he said.
The theme for this year's Catholic Education Week celebrations is Faith in Our Youth which is something Mr Hanly believes Nudgee students already display through the social justice and community engagement programs that so many students willingly undertake.
"The willingness of Nudgee students to contribute to the local and global community by spending time with the elderly and those less fortunate is a real credit to them as individuals," he said.
Current service and solidarity programs that Nudgee students are involved with include:
- Big Breaky - Year 11 students provide breakfast and a friendly meeting place for people in Fortitude Valley every Tuesday of the year, including on school holidays;
- South Africa/Australia Alive - Two Year 11 students travel to South Africa and work with communities there;
- Big BBQ - Each week, Year 10 students, in partnership with Hope Community Care, cook an evening meal and socialise with residents of a local caravan park;
- Smith Family Student2Student Program - Students from Years 8-11 become reading mentors for younger students from disadvantaged backgrounds who require assistance in literacy development; and
- Street Swags - Students roll "swags" that are dispatched to people all around the country living on the streets.
In addition to the social justice programs, students in Year 10 participate each year in a week of service and solidarity learning related to important themes such as indigenous reconciliation, refugee awareness, ecological issues and the disabled.
As part of this immersion week, a selected group of students travels to the Philippines where they work and build relationships with local communities.
Mr Hanly said that the social justice and service programs Nudgee offered were important as they helped students to become the College motto "Signs of Faith" in the general community.
"Nudgee has obvious signs that it is a Catholic school with the statues and the chapel but it is our goal to ensure these outward signs of faith become personal qualities that show through in our students both while they're at Nudgee and, more importantly, in their everyday lives once they leave."
The Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) coordinates Catholic Education Week, which runs from Sunday 27 July until Saturday 2 August 2008.