Four journeys, four perspectives, one community

Kelly Southworth

Editor

At their last AGM, the Senior School Parents Association (SSPA) held a panel discussion about community at Carey. Hosted by President of the SSPA, Loren Miller, the panel shared their experiences and fond memories from their Carey journeys.

Loren: We’ve invited four guests who each have very different experiences: Gerry Riviere, who lives and breathes community at Carey every day as part of his role as chaplain; Trevor Black, a teacher, Career Practitioner and he and his wife, VCE Co-ordinator Connie Black, had three children educated at Carey; Fiona Evans, whose family has been involved with Carey for 45 years; and Sam Carroll, who joined the Carey community more recently. Could you start by introducing yourselves and what your experiences have been with community at Carey?

Gerry: I’ve done two stints at Carey, first in the Junior School from 1993 until 2001, and I left Carey with a profound gratitude for having been a part of this community. So when the opportunity came to return in the role of Senior School Chaplain in 2011, it was a very simple decision for me to make.

For various reasons, the past two years have been very challenging for me, but the support I’ve had from both staff and students has meant so much to me in quite difficult and dark times. I’m so proud to be associated with such outstanding young people and a school that brings out the best in them.

Trevor: My wife, Connie, began at Carey in 1986. She had talked about Carey so much that I decided this was somewhere I needed to be! I found Carey to be somewhere that embraced change and wanted to be at the forefront of education, and I just loved it from the very beginning. So, I started in 2000, and Chris, my son, started in 2001. Then my twin girls started in 2004. So we were all here together and they absolutely loved their time here. And as you can imagine, with us all having been here at Carey, it dominated our conversations, either at school or at home. It has been a wonderful experience.

Fiona: Our family has had 45 consecutive years with Carey. My husband, Mark, started in Year 3 in 1974, and he was in his library class one day and the teacher said, ‘Does anyone know anyone who can help out in the library?’ and Mark volunteered his mother, Val, who promptly came down to Carey to help part-time. She ended up as PA to the Principal for a few months, and after that became PA to the Head of the Junior School, and ended up working for the School for 28 years. So Mark went through Carey from Year 3 to Year 12, and during this time, his parents were also very involved in the School through football, and in later years, the Old Carey Football Club. And when I was pregnant with my second child, my mother-in-law was still the PA to the Head of Junior School. I had a two-year-old and I was in a wheelchair at the time, and my obstetrician told me if I didn’t get some help caring for my daughter, they’d put me in the hospital full-time until I had the baby. In the Carey Staff Childcare room there was one spot left and, even though Val wasn’t the mum, they allowed us to have that spot. And as of Monday, my youngest finishes his VCE exams – and we actually haven’t quite left because my daughter is working part-time as a rowing coach!

Sam: My Carey journey has been reasonably short. Two years ago, we were thrilled to be given the opportunity to have an interview with the Senior School. Carey sounded like exactly the type of school we wanted to be a part of. I was so grateful that when we walked out of the meeting, I said, ‘I’m going to get involved’. So I joined the SSPA and the Ball Committee, and met some beautiful people. And through my daughter, Ruby, I’ve also met some wonderful kids. She has a lovely group of friends. I love the energy and the community of Carey.

‘Whenever you’re involved with kids outside of the classroom, it just enriches that sense of community so wonderfully, because we get to know them better and they get to know us too.’

Loren: What do you think are the defining characteristics of the Carey community?

Fiona: I find that the students are very accepting of other students, no matter their differences, and, in fact, the differences are really embraced at Carey. Both boys and girls are able to share their vulnerability through drama, music and sport and so on. I’ve always found it to be a happy place where the students are cared for and encouraged to follow their own path.

Trevor: I think the relationship between students and staff is fantastic. There’s mutual respect and trust. For example, I remember having a really noisy class in the Middle School, so I kept them in for 15 minutes past the lunch bell, and then when I told them they could leave, they all walked out the door and as they passed they all said, ‘Thanks Mr Black’. And I’ve just taken away half their lunchtime!

Loren: What activities or experiences have you found really contribute towards building community?

Sam: I think shared experiences are always good, whether it’s sport or the mentor groups, or the committees we get involved with, the teams, the performances, the plays, the musicals. I think it’s important too, as parents, to have some shared experiences with other parents. And then we’re able to support each other as well. You kind of don’t know what you’re missing if you don’t get involved, so I suppose we just have to advocate to other parents to get involved as much as they can.

Gerry: There’s a few things I’m involved in that I think are amazing because they enhance the relationship between the staff and the students. For example, on the last Friday of every school holiday, we take a minibus-load of kids up to Yea, and we work together for Habitat for Humanity. They are volunteer-based and build affordable housing for people who otherwise would never be able to get into a house. When you’re standing on a ladder painting alongside the students, you just chat, and they really enjoy the experience of volunteering their time for others. And we come home in the bus and they’ve all had a great day, and no matter what menial tasks they’ve done, the attitude is just marvellous. Whenever you’re involved with kids outside of the classroom, it just enriches that sense of community so wonderfully, because we get to know them better and they get to know us too.

Loren: One last question to the panel: can you tell us a little bit about the impact that the community at Carey has had on you and your families?

Trevor: I love the social conscience Carey instils in the students through programs like the Human Rights Convention. My kids still talk about the speakers that they heard on those days. My son is 31 now, but he can still tell you the specifics of a program they ran about social privilege. It had such an impact; the long-term effects are just huge. And they teach these things from such a young age, by the end of school, they become these young adults with such broad perspectives.

Fiona: I really think that because our family has been so involved in the community in various ways we have had a much closer, richer, more meaningful and fulfilling experience than we otherwise would have had. Like for my daughter, who’s now Head Coach for the First Girls Rowing Team, and a lot of the team know her from when she was a student. I genuinely think being involved in the School – through the SSPA, the various sporting clubs – has a really positive impact on your children. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.