Endings

In the last few days I have attended three school closing evenings and a college graduation. Last week on Thursday afternoon I made a frenetic start to my visits by handing out awards for all students completing Prep to Grade 1 classes in the lower primary school program at Wahroonga. Then followed Wahroonga senior primary school speech night, and on Monday night this week I enjoyed the speech night for Avondale Primary School. Tonight I will attend a Macquarie College event. At the senior end of the scale I listened to John Hammond engage Avondale College graduates with reflections about “The end of the beginning”, and watched them “strut their stuff” as they collected their degrees and diplomas with pride last Sunday.

Creative expression can add a dramatic effect to a school speech night or college graduation. I particularly enjoyed the creative blue light expressions of “Grace Like Rain” at Wahroonga and “The Lord’s Prayer” at Avondale Primary Schools, and the War March of the priests at Avondale College. In the schools the indispensable choirs and even a string orchestra added their own musical artistry. Then there were the fun-filled picture galleries of tributes to Year 6 leavers and the year in review. A school speech night has now become a sophisticated sight and sound show.

Closing events reveal a lot about schools and colleges, and I am very pleased with what I have seen this year. These events give you a feel for school or college tone, behaviour management, the level of academic attainment, school values, administrative organisation and countless other aspects of school or college life. College class presidents or school captains make quality speeches. Along with the prefects school captains hand over their legacy of responsibility to their successors with maturity and grace. Principals farewell staff with affirmation. Classes, choirs and recipients of awards file to and fro in response to clockwork organisation. Amidst all of these events students show their engagement with events moment by moment. As I witnessed these symphonies of events I was again impressed by the ways in which school and college administrators and teachers meet the huge logistical challenges of speech nights and graduations. Coordinating one of these events would keep me awake for nights.

These special events have once again given us at SPD a year-end snapshot of the scope, the power and the quality of Adventist education. We are glad that we got around some of them. This will be our last blog for 2008. Best wishes for the Christmas period from Ken, Gilbert, Tammy and Barry. Get a good break.


News about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific.

Does the Pacific have more opportunities for witnessing than Australia and New Zealand?

I received the following by e-mail just the other day. The message brought me a few smiles and a lot of joy.

Hi Mr.Ken!
This is Nylinda Thomas Rau from Vila SDA Primary School.
I bring you warm greetings from Vanuatu to you all out there. How is the weather out in Austraila? were as in Vanuatu it is warm out here.
Sir, just let you know that the program that we carrying out i mean the new Bible progrom was really helpful .Vanuatu News Paper has put out a news for my first grade that, they have made a history to visit the correctional service with their little gifts such as bathing soap and sweet biscuit. I have the sample here with me.
The authority has stated that 'it is a History that a lower class has a willing heart to visit these kind of people.this was state verbal to the teacher and that is me.

I got to thinking that there is no way teachers in this country or New Zealand would think of taking their Grade 1s down to the local correctional institution, without having previously jumped through many hoops to get them there. I’m not sure that they would get past their parents at first base, let alone the RAMS forms and whatever else is required these days in our overly cautious learning environment.

The activity came out of the new Pacific Bible program that is running successfully in this school in Vanuatu. These folk take seriously for all age groups the message of Jesus when he is talking to those on his right and those on his left. “When I was in prison, you came and visited me.”

So do Pacific schools, because of the lack of OS&H legislation have more opportunities to witness in their communities? Maybe yes, but I don’t think so really. Witnessing is about living an authentic Christian life in whatever environment we are in. No matter where we operate, we will be witnessing. Our form of witnessing here in Australia and New Zealand could well be different to the form it will take in the Pacific countries. But we each have the same opportunities. What we make of those opportunities is what counts.

I hope you are able to keep an eye and ear out for opportunities for your school students to be effective witnesses for Christ in what is shaping up to be very challenging times.

I think in my next blog, I will share some more stories from the Pacific on the impact of the Pacific Bible program. It does make for encouraging reading.

May God continue to bless each of you this week.

Ken Weslake
Associate Director, Education,
SPD

News about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific.