Presbyterian Ladies College, Speech Night

Although I would normally be at this function anyway, in my capacity as Chairman of Council, we also normally invite the Moderator along, to bring greetings from the church, so I wore two hats. For months beforehand, people had been asking me (with a bit of concern in their voice) whether I would deliver two speeches or perhaps we could (with some hope in their voice) get by with just the one. Well, I ended up doing three!

But I did feel sorry for folk, so I took the engineering definition of a 'moderator' to heart (see my homepage) and moderated the flow of hot air. The greetings I brought from the church were kept to a minimum, simply reassuring the school community that the Church continues to take a very real interest in its life and hold it before God in prayer.

The evening was marked in particular as the vice-Principal, Carolyn Elvins' final Speech Night after 27 years of outstanding service to the school, first as a chemistry teacher, then head of chemistry, then head of science, and for the last 16 years as vice-Principal. In that position she has been the solid rock providing continuity that spans 3 Principals, and I know from my own experience with her during the last vacancy that she has provided immeasurable wisdom, compassion, insight and leadership to keep the school moving forward.

The evening also saw the unveiling of the Principal, Elaine Collin's 'official' portrait, which will now hang in the Wyselaskie Hall together with all previous Principals. The artist Jaiwen Shen was present and helped Elaine with lifting the cloth to reveal the painting to the school community.

The school captain Anna Morgan and vice-captain Anna Washington have been tremendous student leaders throughout the year and the first Anna gave a rousing speech to her peers and their families. (The second Anna had previously given a great speech to the yr 12 Graduation Dinner Dance.)