Trips to National parks

Recently Noynoy visited Jenolan Caves with Peter Rodney and Lawrie walked the Royal National Park from Bundeena to Otford with Father Jeeven SJ.

Visit of Darren Burge

Provincial Councillor Darren Burge took advantage of his Sydney visit to take a look at MLZ and our home in Mount Druitt.

Visit of Father Thomas Ruiz

It was great to have Father Thomas with us for a meal recently. Argie prepared delicious Mexican dishes! We will shortly visit Thomas' parish to celebrate with the parishioners Thomas' ten year anniversary of ordination.

An unexpected gift

David McDonald (Oceania Council) arranged this hamper for us, as a thank you for looking after Br Luke for a week earlier in December.

Packing Christmas Hampers for Willmot Community

ACU, with encouragement from Michael Callinan helped to collect a lot of food for distribution to families in Willmot. We helped to pack up the hampers which were delivered in time for Christmas.

Baabayn Christmas Party

Saturday 16 December saw Nurragingy Reserve buzzing with hundreds of aboriginal kids and adults celebrating Christmas. Gifts provided by Marist College Woolwich were distributed used by Santa, and many helpers enriched the day. Monica and Jerk from Marist Youth Ministry assisted with face-painting. Argie painted about 50 children's faces. Noynoy was her assistant!

A Short Break at Fingal Bay

We travelled up to Fingal for a couple of days relaxation at the beach. Long beach walks, swimming and chilling.

Interviews with prospective students for MLZ

On Monday, we interviewed two boys and their guardians who are likely to join us at MLZ next year. Neither has been to school this year. (They are year 7 and year 10.)

Christmas Exchange - Young Marists

A splendid gathering with the young Marists in Eastwood, including visiting Marists from Melbourne and Adelaide who were in Sydney for the Youth Festival.

Australian Catholic Youth Festival

Noynoy attended the whole festival. Other went to the Closing
Mass (where we met Fr Tomas) and others viewed the live stream on the internet. Marist Youth Ministry had a booth at the festival.

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

An Artist in the Family

Argie's latest work

A Day in the Life of a Racetrack

Today we visited Eastern Creek Motor Sport Park for the purpose of forging educational links with the centre. Noynoy, Lawrie and Graeme Atkins attended along with four year 10 boys from McCarthy Catholic College. John Eliott from CEDP was also there.

Important visitors to MLZ

Today two important visitors came to MLZ with a view to looking as "education on the edge" of Sydney. These were Frank Malloy, executive director of Marist Schools Australia and Christian Zahra, executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission. Noynoy and Pat Barrett were on hand to meet with them and show them around our facility.

Visit of Br Luke Fong

Luke has just complete a three month program at Marymount Castle Hill and will stay with us for a week until his flight back to Fiji on 10 December. He will be on the Lomeri staff in 2018.

Willmot Christmas Festival

We supported the Christmas Festival in Willmot. Argie assisted Sister Teresa with face painting. After the 7.30pm finish we decided to go the Rooty Hill for dinner.

Adolescent Mental Health Workshop

We spent two days learning about adolescent mental health from Maggie Trevena and Anushka Houseman, two psychologists employed by CEDP. A useful program. Here is Algee the mascot for the first aid plan:

A approach and assess

L listen non-judgmentally

G give support

E encourage professional help

E encourage other supports

Visit of Brother Mark Suarez

Mark is visiting Australia from Malaysia in order to have a short school experience here. Noynoy and Lawrie spent a day with him on the harbour. He will be in Australia for a week, mainly at St Greg's Campbelltown.

Argie Volunteering with Marist180

Argie recently completed a training day for working in Marist 180. Marist Youth Ministry have teamed up with Marist 180 to assist with organising a community wardrobe, clothing for people to borrow (or keep) for specific purposes such as job interviews.