City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O'Keeffe and Deputy Mayor Rob Priestly were among a number of guests present to congratulate the senior students on their new role as school leaders.
College captains Ben Okely and Caitlyn Glasson are looking forward to taking on the challenge of their roles as captains across all three campuses.
“I just want to be that person students can come to when they have issues and then I can bring that to the councils or the principals and make a real change,” Caitlyn said.
“We really want to work on communication, especially the school bulletin, making it interesting and fun and effective.”
“My role this year is hopefully being the voice between the students and the staff, which is something I think the school needs, because unfortunately unless you had students willing to go and talk to the principal, which seems pretty scary, you don't get the voice and the change doesn't occur,” Ben said.
“I think it'd just be an interesting experience this year to extend my capabilities.
“For me, I'm not an academic student, so it's just another way for me to show I can learn and do stuff.
“I want to show people that academics isn't the be all and end all, even if you have to do it.
“Just like the ATAR is not the score that will define you, it's only there for 12 months or two years.”
The captains have a couple of ideas in the works for the year, to help ease that relationship between the students and staff.
“Last year, one of the students at McGuire organised a student teacher soccer match and that was very well looked at by the students, and they really enjoyed it,” Ben said.
“It's been brought up again this year, so it was something I want to push and make it rather than a once a year thing, once a semester or possibly once a term.
“It just eases that stress and pressure of school.”
Cr Priestley spoke about the importance of leadership, captaincy or not, to the Year 11 and 12 students present.
“They're going through a lot of changes as the school matures and things come together, but that's a great experience,” he said.
“The world's changing a lot, there's change everywhere in the workplace and this is an opportunity for them to really learn how to cope with that and own it.”
Acting executive principal Barbara O'Brien said she was extremely proud of the 2021 leaders and was looking forward to seeing them rise to the occasion.
“Our hope for them is they are a voice for all the students and that they represent our school community in the wider community and are role models for all the students,” she said.
“Our mission really is that all students achieve to the highest levels they are capable of.
“Change is often hard for everybody but these students are really adapting very well to the challenge.
“People find change difficult, some students are finding it difficult.
“Some are just breezing through it but what I've noticed most in the time I've been here is how they support each other and how they look out for each other and really care about each other.”
