Effective: Lions club essay competition winner Shaun Connell receives his $50 Angus and Robertson book voucher from Rochester member John Prigg.
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Essay wins
December 1998
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Shaun Connell will be able to further enjoy one of his favourite pastimes after receiving a $50 book voucher for his winning essay in the Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation competition.
Shaun entered the competition after seeing it posted on the Rochester Secondary College daily bulletin board.
“I’d done an assignment on drugs earlier in the year and I’d read up a bit on the internet,” Shaun, a Year 9 student, said.
“I decided there was a need for teenagers to tell other teenagers that taking drugs is not a thing you have to do.”
In a 400-word essay, Shaun explored his thoughts on drugs and their effects and also quoted statistical information from the National Drug Society.
He said he surprised himself as to the reasons he would not take drugs.
“The physical and mental damage they can do became the main issue,” he said.
He believed young people took drugs, including alcohol, for a variety of reasons including peer pressure and the urge to be different.
Rochester Lions Club member John Prigg, who presented Shaun with his prize on Thursday, congratulated him on his essay, adding it was selected from over 50 clubs in the district.
The next McGrath
December 1998
Give it a go: Junior Bushrangers cricket coach Gary Sanders surrounded by budding cricketers at Ballendella Primary School.
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The next Glenn McGrath may have received some bowling tips from Junior Bushrangers coach Gary Sanders during his visit to Ballendella Primary School last week.
“You never know,” Gary said with a laugh, “but the aim of my visit is to encourage kids to give cricket a go, improve their batting and ball-handling skills and have a lot of fun at the same time.”
‘Have fun’ is exactly what the Ballendella students did, swapping between games such ‘as have-a-go’ cricket, involving bases and runs, and throwing tennis balls at wickets in the centre of a circle.
The two-hour session was wound up with a question-and-answer game on cricket to win one of the many giveaways Gary had tucked away in his Bushrangers bag.
By the time Gary headed for home, every student sported a Bushrangers’ showbag and an increased knowledge of, and perhaps an interest in, the game of cricket.
James surprised by result
December 2013
Top score: Rochester Secondary College dux James Leahy with principal Bernie Altmann.
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Rochester Secondary College student James Leahy was “really surprised” by a 7.30am wake-up phone call from his principal yesterday.
Principal Bernie Altmann called to tell James he was dux of the school with a Victorian Certificate of Education score of 89.9.
“I thought I did terribly in my exams, I wasn’t expecting much of a result at all,” James said.
He said he did not complete his English paper, so was not confident about his results.
James said he hoped to study an arts degree at Melbourne University.
He said after a year or two he could specialise in one subject.
James put his good result down to reading books several times.
“I read all my English literature at least three times,” he said.
“I love reading, it’s an easy way to absorb some information.”
Mr Altmann said he was “very proud” of James and all of the students that worked to the best of their ability.
“James is a very talented musician as well,” Mr Altmann said.
James said rehearsing with his band Milksteak was a “bit of an outlet” from study throughout the year.
Mr Altmann said Rochester Secondary College students’ results were better than last year and excelled in health and human development, food technology and psychology.
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