Staff Farewells

Maurice Lee Maurice Lee restarted at Mazenod in 2010. Restarted? I hear you ask – had he taught here before? Well, no, like a number of other staff he had been a student at the school. In fact, he was part of the initial intake of students back at the very start of the school. Since then, he had been teaching in a number of Government schools but was keen to return to the Alma Mater.

The first couple of years at any school is always tough, as you find your feet and become accepted and Maurice was no exception. He had mainly Senior Maths classes, but was lucky enough to be one of the select group to be given a Year 10 Further Maths class. To top it off, it was a very big class and this baptism of fire produced a few more grey hairs, but a more mature and well-rounded teacher as well.

For the last seven years Maurice has taken on the important role of managing the timetable, which he has done extremely well, showing great compassion, patience and tact in balancing the needs of everyone – administration, staff and students.

So, like the Romans, what has Maurice done for us? Experience: with over 30 years of classroom experience Maurice has brought a depth of knowledge and a variety of skills and practices to the school for the benefit of the staff and students.

Team work: Maurice is great to work with as he is a real team player. He is happy to work with anyone and is always willing to do his share of the workload. His calm, relaxed manner puts both staff and students at ease.

Sense of humour: Being a Richmond supporter means that this is almost a prerequisite and enables Maurice to laugh at himself and with (not at) others. The students in particular recognise this and greatly appreciate it.

Caring and kind: To be a good teacher you must be tough at times but always caring and kind to all you come in contact with. In the 10 years I have known him I have never heard Maurice say anything nasty or vitriolic about any one – except the teams that beat Richmond. This positivity enabled him to get the best out of his students. He was always up for a chat and a quick trip down for a coffee and ‘in-service’, especially if he knew you were having a tough time.

So what next for the great man? In fabulous news for the local coffee shops and wineries, Maurice and his wife AnneMarie are building a new house, complete with stylish ‘man cave’, which Maurice claims is for the grandchildren – yeah, sure mate! We wish him all the best for his retirement and his move to the regions . Richard Faragher Matt Rowland Matt made an inauspicious start at Mazenod in 2014, preferring an incognito approach in the safe confines of his office, rather than the jungle of the staffroom. However, his inner-tiger emerged as he became comfortable with his surroundings and quickly developed into one of the most prolific corridor chatters and office visitors at Mazenod.

From a teaching perspective, the students have benefitted from Matt’s assured and confident manner in the classroom, imparting his wisdom on economic policy, management strategies, finance, algebra and Australian slang. It was in the area of student wellbeing that Matt thrived, as the Year 11 Assistant Coordinator, then Year 8 Coordinator, before taking on the role of Dean of Junior School. Rather than pouring fuel on a fire, Matt excelled in practically assisting students on a daily basis, working closely with staff, students and parents so that situations were calmly resolved.

While many were impressed with the military precision of his Junior School assemblies, Matt’s coaching expertise will also be missed, with an undefeated ACC Cricket team. With a refusal to be hamstrung by a lack of AFL knowledge, he also created one of the hardest tackling Year 8 AFL sides in the history of Mazenod. Similarly, Matt was always ready to don the khaki and raft along a freezing river in the rain, to assist the Outdoor Education program.

Socially, Matt will need to find a new couch full of friends to keep him up to date with the minutiae of College life. However, his larger-than-life presence will be sorely missed in the staffroom. As co-President of the Staff Association, Matt was responsible for the organisation of many social events, providing staff with a new found love of edamame.

Much like the Mazenod College Guiding Principle that he co-wrote, Matt has been “continuously burning bright” in sharing his talents at Mazenod. We wish him all the best as he, Cath and Thomas make the move to peaceful Canberra where Marist College will be the beneficiaries of his teaching, leadership and Netflix recommendations. Clare Caldwell

Naomi Grima On behalf of the nurses, we farewell Naomi Grima as a permanent member of staff. Naomi joined the Mazenod Nursing team in 2019 and has been a highly valued and respected staff member. She has enriched the department with her knowledge and outgoing personality which will be sorely missed. Naomi will continue with her job in the Day Unit at Knox Private Hospital and will remain at Mazenod on a casual basis. We thank Naomi for her contributions to the College and wish her all the best for her future. Nadine Forder

Mira Strengers It is with mixed emotions that I am writing this tribute for an extremely dear friend and wonderful colleague, Mira Strengers. Whilst I am delighted that Mira is about to embark upon a well-earned retirement, I am sad to think about the future generations of Mazenod students who will be denied the joy of having Mira as their teacher.

Mira came to Mazenod College in August 1988. Throughout her years at the College, Mira has taught English, History and Politics. As someone who has worked closely beside Mira over these years, I can attest to her total professionalism and care for all of her students. Mira is an authentic and compassionate person. Throughout our many years of team-teaching History, Politics and English together, Mira has been the ideal colleague. We have been able to share our resources and bounce ideas off each other, so that our students have benefitted from our shared teaching.

Within our College community, Mira has always treated everyone, staff, students, parents, and the wider College community with the utmost dignity and respect. In terms of her classroom practice, she is the consummate professional, and is always keen to support those students who require additional academic assistance.

I know that Mira’s passion for life emerges from her love of travel. Each year, as I hear Mira tell me about her love of her Year 7 History classes, I know that her students are so blessed to hear about Mira’s personal experiences around Rome and Pompeii. In the past, Mira’s Year 9 History students were the beneficiaries of Mira’s passion for Federation and the impact of Great Britain and the Westminster System upon Australia’s heritage. When we taught Year 11 English together, I remember how we teamtaught and showed our students the Italian film, “Cinema Paradiso”, in our efforts to inject European culture into our young men who were tasked with writing a review on this film. More recently, Mira’s Year 9 English students have learned about Shakespeare’s birthplace, as Mira has taught the students the entirety of Shakespeare’s classical play, “Romeo and Juliet”.

Without question, Mazenod College has been the beneficiary of having a person of outstanding moral principles on our staff. Mira is a genuine and beautiful person. Mazenod College’s loss is going to be the wider community’s gain. As Mira embarks upon the next stage of her life’s journey, may Almighty God bless her and her husband, George, with all His love and joy! Tina Giacco

Denise Tan Amidst the significant change of shifting to remote learning, Mazenod welcomed Denise Tan, a pre-service teacher, to the Learning Diversity Centre. Denise initially came to us in 2020 as a Learning Support Officer, but assumed additional responsibilities in 2021 as part of the Tutoring Program. Denise’s introduction to us under such difficult circumstances can certainly be considered a baptism of fire, but true to her form, she took it in her selfless stride, ensuring the needs of students were always placed before her own, as they continued their learning both onsite and from remote locations. In particular, Denise found innovative ways to make learning fun and engaging for our students with additional needs and challenges, positively connecting them in learning with their teachers and peers.

Those who have had the pleasure to meet or work with Denise, know that she has an innate ability to find the magic in the mundane, both personally and professionally. Denise, though your departure is tinged with sadness, given that we are losing an exceptional colleague, we know that you will absolutely thrive in the next chapter of your life. We wish you all the best as a graduate teacher at St. Peter’s College in Cranbourne. Athena Beshir

Fr Giancarlo Iollo OMI It is with much sadness that we farewell Fr Giancarlo Iollo OMI who is leaving the College to take up a position as assistant priest at St Kieran’s in Moe. Fr Giancarlo has been a member of the Oblate community at Mazenod, Victoria for nearly two years and in that time he has become a favourite with the students.

His enthusiasm and willingness to involve himself in camps, activities and liturgies has certainly been valued and appreciated. I am sure that all who were present in the Oblate Hall during this year’s Mission Action Day would remember the excitement that Father Giancarlo generated as he guided the entire student body in his world famous cheer.

While Fr Giancarlo has spent all his working life in schools across the world, his time at St Kieran’s will give him a greater experience of life in Australia and prepare him for other duties that he will undertake as a newcomer to the Australian Provence.

Caro Padre Giancarlo, tantissimi auguri e buon proseguimento per gli anni a seguire da noi tutti.

Staff Farewells

Yoshi Fujii Following a 23-year career at Mazenod College, Mr Yoshi Fujii, commonly known as Fujii sensei by his students, has decided to trade his Japanese classroom for countless adventures in the great outdoors.

Fujii sensei was instrumental in forging a relationship with our sister school, Daisho Gakuen, in Osaka, Japan, having accompanied his students on five Japanese study tours since 2001. In addition, he hosted Daisho College staff and students on numerous occasions over the years, assuming the role of tour guide, Uber driver and on the odd occasion, Japanese interpreter at Monash Medical Centre.

True to his Japanese cultural heritage, Fujii sensei was passionate about sharing his insights and culinary skills with his students. He will be fondly remembered for his sushi sessions on the cricket pavilion balcony during Year 8 Languages week. These skills were also witnessed by his fellow colleagues in the staff room at lunch time where Yoshi resembled a ‘master chef’ in action on the College stove. However, he rarely allowed himself a leisurely lunch, as conversation classes always beckoned.

The consummate professional, Yoshi is respected by students, teachers and his fellow VCAA assessors. His reputation for the outstanding results of his VCE students was earned through sheer hard work and commitment, evidenced in daily conversation sessions, both before and after school and during each break. His students are incredibly grateful for his support and encouragement. Of all his achievements at the College, including his mastery of new technologies, Yoshi was mostly proud of becoming an accomplished teacher.

Whilst we will miss his gentle manner, optimistic outlook and subtle humour, Yoshi’s name will remain synonymous with our thriving Japanese department. We wish him, Desma and their two children all the best for the adventures that lie ahead. May they be filled with good health, safe travels, long walks, and an abundance of cross-country ski trips. Joanne Noone

John Wright Fr Moroney once said, “I need good IT people who will stay at the College”. In 2004 John Wright joined the Digital Technologies faculty at Mazenod College and over the next 18 years taught and coordinated an everchanging curriculum. John, already a highly experienced IT teacher, came to the College with a wealth of teaching and curriculum-development experience having taught at several schools including Padua College and Yeshivah College.

John served as the faculty Coordinator for 17 years, and as new curriculum was introduced at both a state and national level it was John who navigated the Digital Technologies faculty through all those changes, ensuring that our students were introduced to the latest and most interesting content. John strongly felt that students should learn through fun-oriented activities that saw them problem solving and constructing. He introduced STEM Robotics to the College, a course that regularly saw students’ robots invading the corridors, solar cars racing in the quadrangle, and most recently students coding drones to fly around the classroom.

John redesigned Junior programming to encourage students to develop their coding and digital media skills through the creation of computer games, and when Digital Technologies was introduced at Year 7, John advocated the introduction of the Microbit to teach students coding proving how technology makes our daily lives easier.

In the classroom, John is a warm teacher who passionately demonstrated and passed on his love of technology by example, and with a mix of his unique humour. As a VCE teacher, John guided and prepared numerous “Information Processing and Management” and “Data Analytics” students through SACs in their preparation for the final exam.

Given his love of sports, it was no surprise that John quickly gravitated to Volleyball once he arrived at Mazenod. John coached teams to 13 gold medals in ACC Volleyball. In 2008, he coached the Under 14 Mazenod Volleyball team to a national gold medal, and also introduced Beach Volleyball to the School Sports program.

For the last 18 years, we in the Digital Technologies faculty have been fortunate to have John as colleague, mentor, friend and brother. His advice is regularly sought, his humour is greatly appreciated and his company in the office will be greatly missed. After 18 years it would appear that Fr Moroney got what he was looking for. Ian Steel