Mercy Messenger - Term 3, Week 8 - Friday 2 September 2022

This Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day and I would encourage all to remember their fathers, or those who fulfill the father role in their lives. Upon reflecting on my own life, I was blessed to have a wonderful, gentle and caring man as my Dad. Happy Father’s Day to all our dads. Thank you for the vital role you play in our lives.

Rats of Tobruk
The Siege of Tobruk is a key moment in Australian history and it is important to commemorate the lives of the thousands of Australian soldiers that fought during the siege that began on the 10 April 1941. The siege ended 242 days later in December 1941.

Thank you to Mr Marcus McConnell, Mrs Julie Rasmussen and the students who attended the Rats of Tobruk Memorial Service last Tuesday. St Patrick’s College is one of four “Rats” schools in Mackay keeping alive the memory of the determined young men who served in the Tobruk battles. As a ‘Rats’ College, the St Patrick’s College community remembers and acknowledges those that fought for our country.

Rats of Tobruk – We Salute You. As the next generation, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Rats of Tobruk. Lest we forget.

Enrolments for 2023
We are now finalising our Year 7 enrolments for 2023. If you know of someone who is thinking of enrolling at St Patrick’s College for 2023, please ask them to contact the office urgently so enrolments can be finalised.

Mackay Eisteddfod – Submission of Own Choice Material
This year, Own Choice submissions are being uploaded online using the website Music Uploads. If you do not have an active storage plan, you will need to sign up to musicuploads.com.au.

- The submission process will open on Friday 2 September.
- Speech and Drama scripts must be uploaded by Wednesday 14 September.
- Dance music must be uploaded by Wednesday 21 September.

If you have any questions in relation to this process, please contact the Mackay Eisteddfod office on 4953 0747 or email office@mackayeisteddfod.ord.

Parents & Friends Association
A reminder that our next combined P&F meeting will be held on Wednesday 7 September at 6:00pm in the Mercy College Library. All parents are most welcome to attend.

St Patrick’s College – Vision and Mission Statements
In preparation for the combining of both Mercy College and St Patrick’s College, the combined College Board have been working on the new Vision and Mission Statements. Parents and staff of both colleges have been emailed the proposed statements and the Board would appreciate feedback before Tuesday 12 September.

Mercy Community
I would like to welcome Nina Gaviglio to our Mercy staff. Nina will be teaching in the Mathematics and Science Departments. Welcome to Mercy Nina!

It is reckoned that about 300 million people throughout the world drink Coca-Cola every day. It was invented by Doctor John Pemberton of Atlanta, Georgia in the USA. He had set out to create a medicine that cured hangovers!

Pemberton knew that people living high up the mountains of Peru and Bolivia chewed the dried leaves of the COCA bush, mixing them with a little lime or wood ash. That mixture acted as a stimulant, especially in the low-oxygen atmosphere of the Andes mountains. Pemberton started his drinks mixture with these coca leaves.

The COLA tree is found in tropical countries and produces seeds (called nuts) that are about 2.5cm long. The brown seeds smell like nutmeg but are bitter and contain tannin (also found in tea) and caffeine (found in both tea and coffee). Cola nuts are also chewed as a stimulant.

Pemberton mixed extracts from the coca leaves and the cola nuts, adding some secret ingredients of oils and juices which, together, made a syrup. He named the concentrated syrup “Coca Cola” and people added soda (or fizzy water) to it. He patented the name, but only 112 litres of the drink were sold in its first year. Pemberton sold most of his Coca-Cola shares because he needed the money at the time. Shortly afterwards a businessman called Asa Candler bought up all the shares, knowing that what was needed was advertising. The drink began to be popular.

In 1899 two baseball fans, Benjamin Thomas, and Joseph Whitehead, realised that huge quantities of Coca-Cola could be bought and consumed at sports stadiums. They bought the exclusive rights to bottle and sell the drink, and then Coca-Cola spread throughout the United States. Thomas and Whitehead and especially Candler became very rich. Candler had paid $1,000 for all the Coca-Cola shares. In 1912, he sold them for 25 million dollars.

The secret of the success of Coca-Cola and most other products had been the advertising, but, of course, we do need to be selective and not to be taken in by everything that is designed to catch our eyes.

Your child has received a link to complete subject selections for 2023. For Year 7 and 8 students, the only choice to be made will be what strand of HPE they would like to undertake. As the Australian Curriculum has set requirements around hours of learning for each subject, there is very little choice as all students need to be exposed to the full curriculum in these years.

For Year 8 students choosing for Year 9, we start to introduce some choice for students. Languages become elective subjects and Humanities will see Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business being introduced as electives for the first time. We strongly encourage students to explore these subjects as they expose them to real-life learnings as to how we live and succeed in a modern Australian society, as well as providing the learning platform for Senior subjects such Legal Studies, Business Solutions, Certificate II in Tourism and Accounting in senior. The full suite of Arts and Technology subjects are available to choose, allowing students to begin to explore areas they feel they succeed in. They are able to choose more than one if these in each area if they wish.

For Year 9 students choosing for Year 10, we recommend that parents or guardians become fully involved in subject selection. Year 10 should be a year to trial subjects that a student may wish to undertake in Senior. Science expands into Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Investigating Science. Maths offers General Maths and then Maths Methods in Semester 2. English also offers extension subjects as well as General English. Careers in Year 10 involves a week's Work Placement, where students can experience a week in the workplace, which may also help them make decisions for their future pathway.

To assist Year 9 students make good decisions around subject choices, they are currently enrolled in a compulsory Careers subject where they explore future jobs, university courses and what is required of them at school to pursue the career of their choice.

To assist parents or guardians in assisting their child choose the right subjects, we will hold a Senior Pathway Information Evening early in Term 4 where we will unpack ATAR, Applied and Vocational Pathways, and how this will impact on future subject choices. Further details will follow.

As always, we are here to help. Please do not hesitate to contact myself or our Careers Advisor, Susan Mckay at any time if you have any questions or concerns.

‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness’. Romans 12:6-8

In Term 3 Week 7 just over 50 students completed compulsory Work Experience as part of the Year 10 Work Education course. Students were able to use their gifts and talents while on work placement and to gain important life experiences. They had the chance to get out of their comfort zone and to practise their employability skills such as communication, initiative, problem solving, self-management and leadership in real life situations. Numerous community businesses opened their doors to our Mercy College students organised through KP Placement Agency and we are grateful for their generosity of time and expertise. Students were placed in various occupations and industries around Mackay such as engineering, electrician, auto electrician, plumber, hairdresser, beautician, dance instructor, carpenter, primary school teacher, graphic designer, diesel fitter, nurse, and speech therapist. Each student was visited by a staff member, Sandy Gracie, Vikki McGrath or myself. There was much excitement and anticipation leading up to work placement and in preparation, the students explored different audio/visual and written texts, reflecting, and discussing the benefits of Work Experience:

‘You learn skills you don’t learn at school and find out how to work with colleagues. It shows students how the real world works and builds a foundation for what they want to do. You find what your strengths and weaknesses are and what work suits you. It helps with future jobs by doing something for yourself’.

‘Work experience is beneficial for being in a professional work environment and learning more about relevant skills and practices used in the occupation which I hope to pursue…I will be able to learn how to conduct myself in a positive manner and be respectful even when I may not like the situation that I’m in’.

‘It gets students ready for when they are out of school and working, and what it is like to be in that work force. You see what it is like working in the work force and what the job is like’.

‘I believe it’s to get an idea of what you want to be when you’re older, whether you believe it is truly for you after trialing it; to see if it’s your passion of what you want to be and whether you need to change your mind or not in the future’.

On Tuesday the 20 August, twenty-two students travelled to Coomera, Gold Coast to compete in the State STEM finals hosted by the University of Newcastle. The team joined 8 others from around the state who achieved the highest scores at their various regional competitions and were the best of all 180+ teams from around the state.

During the day the students were challenged to solve a number of hands-on engineering based problems and design, build and formulate solutions in small teams of two or three. Challenges included building a structure to be as high as possible, hold as much weight as possible and withstand earthquakes, building a hand from straws and strings to grasp a number of objects and perform sign language and the ultimate challenge was building a bridge to span a specific gap and to withstand an increasingly heavier car passing over it.

The students demonstrated their ability to think outside the box, problem solve, apply their knowledge and most importantly work as a team to reach their objectives. They are to be congratulated for their tenacity, determination and the way that they conducted themselves to achieve each challenge. Their 'never give up' attitude and competitive spirit is what ultimately gained them 1st place and the title of State Champions.

Throughout the day the students were mentored by a number of Engineering University students from Griffith University and received a talk from a representative from Study Goldcoast who outlined the study opportunities offered throughout the Gold Coast region.

They have been extremely fortunate to also have the support of James Cook University who sponsored the local event and gave a significant contribution to support the students' travel to the State finals.

The STEM team are now eligible to travel to Bendigo, Victoria to compete in the National Finals in October. If any one is aware of a company or individual, that would be interested in supporting the students financially to attend the Finals, we would be sincerely grateful if you could forward their names to Tania Attard, HOD of Science(tania_attard@rok.catholic.edu.au) .

A huge thank you must also be given to the teachers who gave up their time to travel with the students. Without the support of Ms Sandra Bayliss, Mr Mark Casey and Mr Damon Grimwood the trip could not have happened. The support of the Administration team at Mercy College and the Catholic Education Diocese Rockhampton also needs to be acknowledged for allowing the team to travel and be part of this amazing experience.