With the end of another school year inevitably come some farewells, and 2018 sees us say goodbye to some students and teachers who have been part of the Alia College community for some time.
Students leaving us are Quentin (Year 9), Hugo, Paul, Sebastian (Year 10), and Benji (Year 11). We wish you all the best for the future. Also moving on are a few staff members, namely Alessandro, Andrew, Joe, and Ray.
Alessandro began at Alia in 2017 teaching Latin for Years 8-10. His positive and friendly presence about the school will be missed, and we wish him all the best for his work at the Victorian School of Languages.
Andrew began at Alia as a teaching graduate in 2008, teaching PE and HaSS (then SOSE). Since then, he has taught across a wide range of methods, including Psychology, Economics, Health, Geography, Outdoor Education, PE, and Maths. Andrew is also responsible for organising many excursions and trips. He has been a snow camp stalwart, and took over the organisation of snow camp after Kirsty left in 2017. He and Yuri organised a successful trip to Japan in 2016. Andrew was an important part of the staff body; enthusiastic, helpful, and well-liked and respected by students. We wish Andrew every success in his new job at Yarra Hills Secondary College. We must also congratulate him and his wife, Alice, who are expecting their second child in March. Fantastic news!
Another long-term staff member leaving Alia is Joe. Joe has been at the school since 2004, and has contributed to helping build Alia in so many ways. He has taught Science, Chemistry, Biology, and Maths across the year levels during his years here, but has also worked hard to give the school new and useful resources. Joe is responsible for bringing an interactive TV setup to the Science Room, Junior Homeroom, and got the ball rolling early on for implementing these in most classrooms. He has worked to fit out the Science Room, modifying furniture and equipment to make the best use out of the space. Joe is always at camps, and has, with Chloé, been a fixture of the Colac camps for the last couple of years. Joe moves on to Wesley College, where he will be the Head of Chemistry. Good luck Joe! We wish you the best, and are so thankful for all you’ve done as part of the Alia staff body.
The final staff member leaving in 2018 is one who has been here since 2001; Ray. Ray has been teaching Latin for 17 years at Alia, and is someone whose consistent presence in the school will be hard to go without. Ray is best known for his sense of humour, his calming energy, the boundless extent of his knowledge in all areas, from US politics to Western philosophy, to baseball. His conversational classroom style created a space for students to learn in a way very in fitting with Alia, and this learning was only bolstered by his extensive knowledge and wisdom. Here early every morning, Ray not only made the school warmer by turning on the heaters in Winter, but by engaging sincerely with everyone at Alia. We wish you a happy and pleasant retirement, Ray, and that the next phase of your journey is rewarding and fulfilling. Thank you for your huge contribution to the history of Alia College and we hope that you stay in touch and that we still see you from time to time.
Those joining us for 2019. We welcome Kane, Kelly, Maddix, Nate (Year 7), Ella, Izzie (Year 8), Jack, Kira (Year 10) Henry, and Zoni (Year 11). We look forward to welcoming you into the Alia College community. We will also be welcoming Amalina, who’ll be teaching Chemistry, Maths, and Science. Amalina previously completed a placement at Alia as part of her teaching studies, and we’re glad she decided to come back to take those classes. Welcome Amalina!
Outside of the welcomes and farewells, we have congratulations for Giselle and her husband, Charlie, who were married on 11 January. Both Giselle and Charlie are former Alia College students, and with the departures of Alessandro and Ray, Giselle will be taking up the mantle of teaching Latin from Year 8-12. We wish you both every happiness for your married life together!
Congratulations to Tomer and Francesca who became engaged over the summer break!
There have been some marriages/unions between Alians that we are aware of and now even some next generations appearing! They include:
Married:
- Andrew Morgan and Eri Yoshida – whose first baby due in March.
- Sasha Henderson and Lachlan Price-Cuffe – who have a son, Rupert, born late 2018
- Giselle Bracewell and Charlie Sloane
Pending marriages:
- Jess Zani and Ty Khoury
- Tomer Berkowitz and Francesca Bracewell
Finally, we want to say thank you for being part of the Alia College community for 2018. We hope you’ve been having a good holiday period, and we look forward to 2019 with all of you.