It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge a student who lives the Edmund Rice tradition through his actions. Recently, we received information from a student who wanted to recognise one of his peers for an action he had taken in the community.  

He wrote the following: 

Mr Clarke, 

I want to talk about a student I believe is a true catholic brother. 

A year 9 student on Monday, 16 October, helped save a man's life. This student and his family were on their way to drop him off at school, when they came across a motorbike accident. Instead of driving away like many others have, this student convinced his parents to stop and help a man that he didn't know and didn't have to help. This student helped gather other cars to the location and collected all the medical kits from the cars he could find. He comforted the man while another tied a belt around his leg to stop the bleeding. The man had lost his whole calve and a lot of blood as well as sustaining a serious head injury. This student helped in preventing this man from dying for multiple hours. When the ambulance arrived, they told the group that without the combined efforts of this group, that man would have surely died. 

This student has only told me that he didn't want to try to claim credit for this act, as he called it 'doing the right thing'. I truly believe this is a heroic act that the school should recognise.

 I, too, believe, along with this student, that this should be recognised, and I believe that he is truly living the Edmund Rice tradition and being a brother to others. Edmunr RIce wanted his students to be change agents, and this student truly lives our tradition established over two hundred years ago. 

It is with great pleasure that in my final term at the College, I will present the third Blue Malaria Shirt for the year. The Blue and White Malaria Shirt is a shirt that is given to a student who actively lives our College values to live the Edmund Rice Spirit and make a positive difference in the world where they are not thinking about themselves but the wellbeing of others, where their actions move from the ordinary to the extraordinary. 

Only five awards have been given out during my six years at the College. 

Can we please, as a community, acknowledge this Year 9 student who was a real brother, thinking of the wellbeing of another before himself.

We have presented the Blue Malaria Shirt to Year 9 Baillie Student - Kevin Ross. 

Shaun Clarke |  College Principal