Dominic College Principal | Public figure

Dominic College Principal

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24.01.2022 One of the end-of-year highlights for me is visiting the final assemblies of each of our Catholic primary feeder schools as they farewell their Year 6 students and commend their achievements. These gatherings provide me with the opportunity to present our Peter Dezani Bursaries for Year 7 2021. It was great to catch up with some of our new Year 7s in each school, including St Paul’s students pictured here. Students are excited about their new subjects, new teachers, the prospect of making new friends and wearing the new uniform! Looking forward to welcoming all of our Year 7 next month

24.01.2022 I have been in New Zealand this past week, attending the Dominican Education Conference ~ Gifted for the Journey. One of the sub-themes has been connecting in an increasingly disconnected society. I have thought much about how we can continue to develop in our students a deep sense of belonging and connectedness within the Dominic community. It is through connectivity that our students are able to make authentic meaning of their lives and be positive people of hope. I found... at the Conference that reconnecting can be also be a deeply satisfying experience as well. I met up with my old school friend and debating team member, Helen Kearney (right) who is head of Religious Education in Years 11 & 12 at St Peter’s in Maitland, NSW and our retired Geography teacher, Marg O’Shea who was one of the most memorable and dedicated Dominican educators we experienced as young students. I also met staff from St Lucy’s Dominican School for Children with Special Needs in Wahroonga Sydney. What an impressive group they were as they led the Conference in prayer on our last morning, focused on the children of St Lucy’s. We were all uplifted by their leadership. Having served on the Board of St Lucy’s for 9 years, it gave me a huge sense of joy, to see how far they have developed the faith life of the school since my connection with St Lucy's. Invercargill also offered a new connection for me in Chris Hankin, Dominic Old Scholar from the Class of 1989 who now lives on the south island. Chris works with the New Zealand Department of Conservation as a Parks Ranger. He graduated with Honours in Plant and Animal Ecology from UTAS and is such a delightful and engaging Old Scholar. Chris’ journey and work will feature in next year’s Veritas Magazine. As I prepare to come home, I am certainly feeling far richer than I was just a week ago!

24.01.2022 Annually at this time of year, I take stock of the final academic results students have achieved across the College that are reflected in their progress reports that they and their families receive as the school year ends. Overall grades often reflect the level of work ethic and commitment to academic achievement by students. I often refer our students to the research about student achievement and the behaviours of successful people. Nothing can substitute consistent, hard ...work by students to get where they want to be. I sent this small poster to students who had a high grade point average to remind them of the behaviours and attitudes of successful people. I’ve encouraged them to stay in the ‘green zone’ and reminded them that outstanding students are always giving back to their community whenever and however they can. I am looking forward to seeing every student working on their growth in 2020.

23.01.2022 After a huge week at Dominic focused on supporting the Mental Health of all of our students, my favorite snap of the week features the visit by Maggie Baker and Mitch McPherson with Aaron Davey and our College Captains Maddi Cockerill and Lachlan Rowlands. Mitch and Speak Up Stay ChatTy https://www.facebook.com/StayChatTY/ first began working with us a number of years ago to proactively put Mental Health on the agenda. Mitch has been a great friend to the College and we rea...lly value his leadership and message. In 2018, our amazing College Captain Maggie Baker, together with our Coordinator of Pastoral Care, Aaron Davey launched our inaugural Mental Health week. The week had such an impact on students that it was decided that this would be an annual event featuring workshops on self-care, body image, fitness and fun and effectively managing social media. Being connected to and involved in community is a crucial element for young people who thrive and flourish. Our breakfast and lunchtime special treats this week have made everyone feel terrific.It was fabulous having Maggie back who is part of https://www.facebook.com/littlehelpproject/ As in the snap, Aaron Davey is at the centre of supporting our 7-10 young people to take care of themselves, to know how to do this well and to support their friends to be safe, happy and staying on track. Thank you Aaron, Maddi & Lachlan for a great 2019 Mental Health week!

21.01.2022 What a highlight it was yesterday to have impressive Dominic Old Scholar & Carlton Football Club player, Liam Jones as our guest speaker at our 2019 International Men’s Breakfast. Liam was an incredibly generous presence and I was thrilled with the way he entered the event and his honest and sincere sharing of his life journey thus far. He is an inspiration to all of us and I understand why he was elected as Vice-Captain of the College in 2007 a role model of service, ...kindness and humility. Liam’s message of hard work, sacrifice, self belief and perseverance echoed with all present. It was a memorable morning seeing this young man give back to us in abundance and sharing his insights into how to achieve one’s aspirations through deep work ethic and resilience. Thank you to Liam for a great morning and to his former teacher and wonderful MC for the event, Aaron Davey for liaising with Liam to return home to us.

21.01.2022 As the 2021 academic year commences, the most excited children are probably our Kindergarten students. They and their families were in our new K-2 facilities on Thursday for the first time as we held our K-6 'Meet and Greet.' As our parents tried to leave, many children just didn't want to go home! We look forward to seeing these beautiful children, entrusted into our care, grow and thrive in the many wonderful programs at Dominic.

21.01.2022 As the year fully closes, there is great value for me in looking at Dominic College across 2019. There are so many highlights to share. So just a few include the commitment of our students with their fantastic efforts supporting Relay for Life; our P-10 Science Fair and the great projects students worked on; our 1973 College Captain, Rosemary Mann, continuing to be a part of the College as a grandparent and visiting on our Grandparents Day, the memorable Asian Festival with ...the spectacle of the Year 8 Dragon dance for our K-6 students; the Year 6 presentations in Say it Loud; Carlton AFL player and Old Scholar, Liam Jones sharing his story at our International Men’s Day Breakfast in November; the production of our 2019 Talking Heads, the introduction of VET Hospitality and the class preparing a wonderful three course meal for the P&F in Volunteers week; our increased capacity to have more liturgies and in particular our Ash Wednesday class-based ceremonies, Year 5 initiatives with bringing a hot air balloon to the College and re-creating the Ballarat goldfields near the creek; our 2019 Dance & Music Showcase and being opened by our senior taiko drum troupe, the introduction of two new traditions- the ‘Belling In’ of Year 7 into their secondary education and our inaugural K-9 Christmas Carols. It has been a blessed and memorable year across 2019 due to the commitment of our students, staff, families, our wonderful Parents and Friends and Old Scholars. Happy New Year!

20.01.2022 On the weekend, the College Leadership Team and I attended the Salesian Educational Leaders Conference in Melbourne. During that time Selina Kinne, our Director of Teaching & Learning K-10 and I presented a workshop on the importance of ‘Teacher Clarity.’ Teacher Clarity is an instructional behaviour that positively supports course related knowledge and skill acquisition and improved student achievement. The use of visible Learning Intentions and Success Criteria conveys c...larity to learners regarding what they are learning and why. Coupled with timely feedback, research indicates that this can be a powerful means to further student outcomes. It was a pleasure to work with Selina on this opportunity and the workshop was well received by our colleagues. See more

20.01.2022 For the last four weeks we have had the pleasure of hosting Br Filipe Cardoso Sarmento at Dominic College. Br Filipe (pictured right), is a Timorese brother with the Salesians who spent six months last year studying English at Australian Catholic University and who has just completed his first semester of Theology studies in Melbourne. Br Filipe has been at Dominic College on Pastoral Ministry Immersion and is due to take his perpetual vows later in 2020. The concept of P...astoral Ministry is to provide Salesians in formation for the priesthood with the opportunity to live with another Salesian community and to work in one of the ministries of the Salesians. It was wonderful having Br Filipe present for our Staff Week and then working in classes and out on the playground with our staff and students. Br Filipe has shown himself to be an outstanding young man, open to learning and being at ease with students and interacting with them with warmth and kindness. We were most grateful for the opportunity to enjoy his generous presence in our community and we extend our appreciation to him for his dedication and commitment during his summer study break. Simultaneously, Deacon Dani Rafanomezantsoa (pictured left) was also visiting Glenorchy during his break from Theology studies and had his experience of Pastoral Ministry in St John’s Parish. We were fortunate to have Deacon Danni assist at Mass on two occasions at the College. It was very special for us to have him present at our Opening School Mass. I wish both these Salesians every blessing as they continue in their mission call, following in the footsteps of our founder St John Bosco.

17.01.2022 At our 2020 Student Leaders Induction ceremony on Friday I shared with the Dominic community our belief that every day all of our students, staff and parents in our school community have opportunities to be leaders. Every day, every one of us can make a difference for good, if we choose to. Leadership at Dominic College is about service. It was heartwarming then to see, the very next day, our two 2020 Captains, Jackie Van Lierop & Cassie McLoughlin supporting our junior stude...nts in the Myer Christmas Pageant. Immediately enacting our call for their leadership to be of service to the College community, using their time for the good of others. All of our staff, parents and students were delightful and ever generous in being part of the Dominic pageant contingent for 'A Recipe for Christmas'. Memorable leadership of the College by all involved. A huge thank you to Mrs Olivia Stephen for her hard work on our parade entry and being an invitational leader to all.

17.01.2022 Or Deputy Principal, Steve Casni and I have the privilege of team teaching a Year 10 Religious Education class. We have a great group of fine young men and women. On Thursday we finished their classes for the term with our Class Mass in the College Chapel with Fr Peter Rankin SDB. Students generously volunteered to take the various roles in the Mass readily and thoughtfully. ... In Term 2, Year 10 have explored and researched change in the Church and how that has had an impact on the way people think about faith, community and their relationship with God. They have learnt of the fear and desperation of people as they looked for God during the terror of the Black Death in the 14th century and found their prayers unanswered. Students were exposed to the courage of Martin Luther as he challenged the Church to be faithful to the scriptures and see the Eucharist as central to Christian life. They had insight into the dedication and faithfulness of those men and women who offered their lives to God through the monastic life through a vowed life of prayer. Learning about the impact of Vatican II and the call for lasting and deep change, the class conducted their own Mock Vatican III. Their proposals reflected a conviction that our Church needs to continue to change so that it is inclusive, welcoming and a genuine path to God. It felt good to finish the term with Mass, praying in thanksgiving for past and life-giving changes and to pray for ongoing positive change so that the Church can be real, relevant and a source of hope for its people.

17.01.2022 Thank you to all of our wonderful students, families and staff who supported our ‘Bright Colours for Isla Day’ on Wednesday. As our community is aware Isla is one of our gorgeous Kindergarten students who has been diagnosed with a rare condition - Rasmussens Encephalitis. As Isla and her parents prepare for major brain surgery and treatment in Melbourne, Isla continues to suffer an increasing number of seizures. The next part of the journey for Isla is very challenging. W...e are very blessed to have this beautiful student and her devoted parents in our College community. My personal gratitude to all students who donated to our fundraiser for Isla to ease some of the financial burden of the medical demands for the family. Special thanks to our 7-10 Siena House (Captains, Heidi & Cassie pictured with Isla) who presented Isla with special gifts of love around her favourite theme Frozen! We wrap Isla and her parents, Karissa and Jimmy in our love and prayers during these next weeks and months. See more

15.01.2022 We held our Dominican Feast Day on Wednesday honouring two of our patron saints : St Dominic Guzman and St Catherine of Siena. There were many magic moments across the day of interactions particularly between students and student and staff interactions. The day ended for me, catching some of our K-6 student volunteers assisting Cameron Golding and Dave Reinbach storing sports equipment from the activities. Seeing students generously serve our school after a very busy and tiri...ng day, said to me that the values of ready support, friendship and giving without thought of return or reward are very much instilled in our students. Well done to all students for their great participation and involvement in our Feast Day. A huge thanks to Cameron Golding who supervised the making of over 1,000 fresh salad rolls in our kitchen. This is such a treat for our students and staff - students are not only loved but know they are loved! See more

12.01.2022 Last year we introduced our Dominic College Colours Awards. The Colours were conceived as a level of recognition for exceptional performance and achievement by students that can be worn on the College blazer in a student’s final year at the College. It is a great way for a group of our Year 10 students to commence the year and I’m very proud of them. This week twenty-three Year 10 students began wearing their blazer Colours. These student recipients have met criteria for ex...cellence and commitment in the areas of Mission, Academics, Creative Arts or Sport. The College Colour Awards are predicated upon student achievement as well as dedication, and outstanding commitment to their chosen area. Students who gain the Colours are also deemed to be young people of dignity and integrity in all areas of College life and live up to our ideals of service. I want to extend my personal congratulations to our 2020 College Colours recipients: Jaxson Barron, Alex Bourne, Annalee Branch, Harry Breslin, Jack Cassidy, Chloe Cooper, Harrison Hyland, Hannah Maw, Cassie McLoughlin, Heidi McPherson, Brandon Oates, Dione Olorso, Hannah Reid, Anit Saju, Isabelle Selby, Alicia Smith, Jacob Tarvydas, Ty Turner, Jackie Van Lierop, Montanna Walker, Campbell Whelan Sarah Wright and Kate Young. Special commendation to our College Captain, Jackie Van Lierop who has been awarded all four Colours and our College Vice Captain, Cassie McLoughlin, who has been awarded three College Colours.

09.01.2022 The 2019 academic year came to a rapid close at Dominic College on Friday. There was a sense of excitement and anticipation amongst students as they cleaned their lockers and tubs, received final recognitions and awards and enjoyed some recreational activities together and a cold zooper dooper as a final treat. All students are looking forward to the summer and spending time with their families. Students and staff all felt that our Carols in Tolosa Park on Thursday evening... was a great community event of shared faith, friendship and fun. Well done to all students for their excellent contributions and fabulous community singing. The K-10 Creative Arts Faculty did a fabulous job in designing and creating this celebration with our students. Thank you to all families who readily supported this gathering. On Friday we held our final Mass for the year in the Savio Centre and prayed for our community and those living in very disadvantaged communities. Our College families have been most generous in their contributions to our hampers for families in need. Blessings on all members of the College community for a wonderful and happy Christmas. May all of you feel God’s abiding love through the birth of Jesus and the power of the nativity story.

09.01.2022 There was so much happening at Dominic College this week as we launched into what will be an eventful Term 4. We were featured in the Mercury about our wonderful facilities development, our animals made it onto the evening television news and so did our support for Make A Wish Foundation this Sunday. But what really was the best good news story this week? For me it was the celebration of Ella James' end of medical treatment. Ella celebrated this occasion by bringing in cup ca...kes for her Year 6 friends and teachers. They were decorated with the well known yellow cancer ribbons and tasted delicious! Last term, Ella was nominated for a Fred Hollows Humanity Award which she will receive next month. Her citation reads as follows: Following in the footsteps of Fred Hollows, Ella James demonstrates compassion, integrity and kindness by being involved in fundraising and participation in the Cancer Council's 'Relay for Life' and The Leukemia Foundation's 'Light the Night'. She participated in this year's fundraising appeal for Red Kite and was one of the faces behind celebrating 10 years of the Country Road Red Kite resource bag. Ella volunteers with the local Star Wars troop and dresses up as Rei for local events such as the Wellness Expo and Kennerley Children's Festival. Despite having extensive ongoing health challenges as a cancer survivor herself, Ella is focused on constant service and kindness to others. So the best good news story this week was indeed the end of Ella's treatment!

08.01.2022 One of the pleasures of the Dominic College community is the Christmas Eve Old Scholars Mass held annually in the College Chapel. We had a gathering of about 90 from across the decades. Former College Vice Captain, Connor Haas ( Class of 2012) intersected with this year’s College Vice Captain, Cassie McLoughlin (Class of 2020). Both were wonderful student leaders almost a decade apart. Connor has been enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce since 2015, graduating with a B...achelor of Business and just finishing his Masters degree. Cassie, our most recent recipient of the prestigious Br Peter Dezani Award commences Guilford Young College with a passion for the Sciences. Dominic College can be proud of these wonderful former scholars.

06.01.2022 This week it has been a pleasure to visit a range of our feeder primary schools whose students are readying to enter our Year 7 next year. Attending their Year 6 and school assemblies and seeing them receive academic and leadership awards at their end-of-year ceremonies, reaffirms for me the quality of young people joining Dominic College in 2020.

06.01.2022 Sadly Dominican sister and former staff member of Dominic College, Sr Maura McAvoy OP passed away in Auburn NSW on Monday 6 July after some weeks of ill health. Sr Maura had extensive leadership experience and generously served the Dominic College community from 1991-1993 as Principal of the then Dominic College Senior School. In 1994, Sr Maura became Deputy Director of Catholic Education in Tasmania, a position she held for five years followed by four years as a Senior Ed...ucation Consultant with the TCEO including oversight of Religious Education in the Archdiocese. Sr Maura had a reputation for strong curriculum development, teacher formation and staff professional development. She took a keen interest in early career teachers and was well-known for her pastoral care of others. She was always interested in the interface between theory and practice and understood the importance of good administration to a school’s development. We give thanks for Sr Maura’s wonderful life of service as a Dominican sister for 57 years. She was a dedicated and compassionate educator with a great sense of humour and genuine love of children and young people. She credited her staff for any achievement under her leadership and was often ready to take a risk when others were not. The only surviving member of her immediate family, Sr Maura grew up in Northern Ireland and did her teacher training in Belfast before coming to Melbourne in 1960. Three years later she entered the Dominican novitiate. She was a faithful Dominican emulating Dominic’s life of humble contemplation in community. Sr Maura was 84 years old on her passing and will be greatly missed by her much-loved Dominican family and is remembered with affection. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon her May she rest in peace A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sr Maura in the Santa Sabina Chapel, Strathfield (Sydney) on Friday 10 July @ 11am followed by interment at Rookwood Cemetery. The Mass will be live streamed and can be accessed via the following link: www.FuneralVideo.com.au/SrMauraOP A Requiem Mass will be held on next Tuesday, 14 July at 2pm at St John’s Church, Glenorchy, celebrated by Fr Chris Hope.

05.01.2022 Most teachers at Dominic College would have spent considerable time in this last term break preparing lessons for their students. We are fortunate to have such dedicated teachers. Mr Casni and I spent time too gearing up for our Year 10 Religious Education Class which we team teach. Their unit this term will be focused on Social Justice and our mission call to place human dignity and the respect of human rights at the heart of how we live. Students will be exposed to concept...s of political, economic and social equality, the need for the equal distribution of resources and the way changes in policy and laws can remove inequality. Our emphasis will be on societal participation in change and access to opportunity through social action. Next week, Year 10 students will participate in our inaugural three-day Retreat at Orford and they are excited about this. Social Justice will be a key theme throughout the retreat. We look forward to hearing their ideas and their solutions to some of our local-global challenges.

05.01.2022 One book, one pen, one child, one teacher can change the world. Malala Yousafzai In Australia today we mark World Teachers’ Day, inaugurated in 1994 by UNESCO to acknowledge the outstanding efforts and complex work of teachers in our society. Our amazing teachers are Dominic College’s best resource. The Dominic staff team (pictured), who just ran the three day Year 10 retreat at Orford, are a ready example of our high quality teachers who are deeply committed to our stude...nts. They are hard-working, creative, perceptive and generous in their relationships with students. Students are deeply affected by their relationships with their teachers, and their teachers’ perceived commitment to them. Research shows us that this relationship is one of the most important factors in shaping student engagement in their learning. Today, I salute our outstanding teachers and extend my appreciation for all they do to develop our students in so many different dimensions. There is a critical mass of teachers at Dominic College who are hugely talented educators and are totally committed to our students achieving their best. They genuinely love the students they teach and constantly work at improving their professional knowledge and classroom practice, so our students move from strength to strength. Dominic College teachers are truly quality teachers making a difference in the life of every child entrusted into their care. They are creating our future!

04.01.2022 This past week, the Dominic College Parents & Friends had its final meeting of 2019 and on top of this we enjoyed dinner together to celebrate their achievements this year and our tight partnership. This hard working group of creative and generous volunteers made a huge contribution to the College this year. A dynamic team, who are significant leaders in our school, the P&F once again modeled shared leadership in their organisation, planning and collaboration. The P&F Presid...ent, Mrs Nicola Rayner, continued to be a great asset to the College, leading this generous, hard-working team who are deeply committed to creating a great community at Dominic. The P&F efforts to raise additional funds for College initiatives have been ongoing and they make a genuine difference to our school community. Many valuable contributions to the College happened this year because of our P&F such as our Easter Raffle, Mother’s and Father’s Day Stalls, Sports Day BBQs, K-6 Disco, support of our Music and Dance Showcase, subsidizing parent attendance at the Resilience Workshop in Mental Health week and our memorable and highly successful Community Fair in November. Once again, the Dominic College P&F undertook exceptional work and achieved wonderful outcomes in 2019. I hope they, their families and their volunteer supporters all enjoy a well-deserved summer break once school ends.

04.01.2022 This week we bid our fond farewell to Akihiro Shimomura who has been our Japanese Exchange Teacher this term from Salesio Shizuoka. Akihiro has been an amazing Salesian presence across the College. Whether it has been teaching our K-2 songs, playing lunch time soccer, developing language conversation skills with our Year 9 and 10 students or rehearsing and performing with our Taiko troupe last Thursday evening, Akihiro has shown us what authentic friendship can be across international borders. We will miss him greatly and I sincerely extend my gratitude to Shimomura sensei and his Principal Mr Koji Sueyoshi for the gift and privilege of his presence.

03.01.2022 One of my biggest concerns about high school students generally, including at Dominic, is the amount of time they devote to a job outside of school. Whilst it is great for students to have exposure to work environments and earn cash, working more than 15 hours a week in term time is a recipe for failure. Students can become overwhelmed, too tired and fall behind in their assignments and academic mastery. In my opinion, those working hours should also be confined to weekends ...and not during the week. Young people need plenty of sleep, a balance of school, sport and creative arts, club activities as well as rest and recreation with friends and family. Working at a fast food outlet, or a supermarket stacking shelves or on the check-out until 11.30 pm will become a source of great stress even for the most resilient students. Tired students get snappy, intolerant and this adversely impacts their friendships at school and overall relationships. They make poor choices because tiredness impairs their thinking and judgement processes and their disposition can become generally negative. For Dominic students their first job is being a student and students and families need to prioritize their learning. Whilst it is great to have the income from a job, long working hours jeopardizes student achievement. Students and families need to always look at the big picture readiness for College and then university or TAFE - their big goal. Our students will have long working lives in front of them becoming a slave to the part-time job and the employer's working demands should be avoided at all costs.

02.01.2022 Just a few years ago, Macquarie University undertook a survey of Australians and their reading habits and preferences. The findings highlighted that as a nation we enjoy fiction and non-fiction and read for both escapism and the acquisition of knowledge. We like mysteries and thrillers and I can testify to that as a lover of mysteries! It was encouraging that the survey results indicated that 92% of Australians classified themselves readers. The analysis of the results argu...ed that there is a strong culture of books and reading across the country. It also highlighted that we believe it is important for Australian children to read books by Australian authors and set in Australia. One of the educational and cultural roles of a school is to instill in its students a love of reading and a deep value of books and what treasures that they can give to us. It was therefore wonderful for us to have students participating in World Read Aloud Day this past week. For many students it was a highlight of the week. See more

02.01.2022 Yesterday was a great start to the 2020 academic year and students and teachers alike were brilliant as temperatures rose in the afternoon. They held their focus and concentration despite the dry heat. To me, student & teacher attitudes yesterday were a mark of excellence in commitment to learning at Dominic. We were hot but it wasn’t going to stop the learning and it didn’t! Our Deputy Principal, Steve Casni & I met our Year 10 class for the first time in the afternoon as th...eir new Religious Education teachers. Steve & I team teach in RE and this is a great way for us to remain in the classroom being at the core of our purpose learning and teaching. We are excited about the students in the class..who are a little in shock at having both the Principal and Deputy Principal as their teachers! Steve and I both love teaching and challenging students to think critically. We included a cartoon analysis from a previous TASC paper on the concept of religion. We wanted to connect students to their future work in College and the academic expectations. It was a challenging task and we were really pleased with how students commenced annotating the cartoon for baseline understanding and in discussion, engaging with the concepts of human purpose & existence and religion acting as a significant way through which we can make meaning of our lives. Their work and response were indicative that they are ready for and up to the journey of academic rigor.

01.01.2022 As our Year 10 students our Class of 2019, depart our care today and complete their junior secondary schooling with us, we bid them a fond and heartfelt farewell. Last night we held a memorable Graduation Mass at St John’s Parish and super afterwards at the Bosco Centre. We will always remember the Class of 2019’s amazing House spirit, their community leadership in raising extraordinary funds for cancer research and supporting those living with cancer, their championship... of young people maintaining good mental health and their commitment to being a force for good in the lives of others. As Year 10 end their journey with us at Dominic College, we pray that they will feel and be deeply blessed in their life journey. As we have recalled their many achievements individually and collectively, we pray they will always feel God’s loving and abiding presence in their lives. The Class of 2019 leave our care with our hopes, our prayers and blessings for all they can become.