On Wednesday, I spoke to the Year 11s about Leadership.  It’s easy for them to confuse leadership with power.  Lots of people do that.  Sometimes our students think ‘student leadership’ is about who gets voted into specific leadership roles like School Captains and House Captains.  Great leadership happens when an individual can make a positive difference for another person.  It’s not about power or status it is about being a positive change for the world – or your part of it.  I reminded the Year 11s about two shining examples of that leadership.  Tuesday was a really tough day for us as a community.  Mr James Kiernan died suddenly at school shortly after arriving.  Tuesday afternoon, we celebrated the life of Mr Ed Bowen.  Neither of these men were ‘leaders’ in regard to power or status but both made a profound difference.

Ed Bowen started at Shalom in 1993 and worked continuously as a Groundsman until his retirement, at age 85 in 2022.  Every day Ed would clean bins in the playground and in every staff room.  He would always chat with people in the process and always had time to call people by name.  He was extraordinarily loved by the staff at Shalom who grew very fond of him.  He made a difference – not just to the cleanliness of the environment but to the people lucky enough to come in contact with him.

James Kiernan came to Shalom in 2020.  He was a big man in person and in spirit.  James taught RE across the College and, in doing so, probably taught more students at Shalom than most teachers.  He was a genuinely good human being as well as a much loved husband, dad and grandparent.

He loved his faith and he lived it.  James never held a leadership position in the schools in which he worked but he just did his job well and valued young people.  They responded to him so well because of that.  That is real leadership.  

Queensland Ambulance Service were magnificent with us on Tuesday, doing their very best for James Kiernan and in the way they spoke and supported the Shalom staff who were immediately affected by the event.  Those women and men are heroes of our community.  We are enormously grateful for their work.

Information for support - the below links have information for dealing with grief, loss and trauma.

• Trauma Fact Sheet
• Grief Fact Sheet for Parents
• How Trauma Affects Children and Young People
• MHFA Adult Guidelines for Traumatic Events
  
• Book an Appointment with one of our School Counsellors

Huge Thank You to all the Shalom staff who go above and beyond to provide so many additional activities for our students.  Just the recent ones –

• Year 11 Retreat at the Sunshine Coast
• Edmund Rice Leadership Camp Brisbane
• State Basketball Competition
• Surf Lifesaving Competition
• State Rowing Regatta
• All Schools Touch Competition

Awards Night & Graduation are both on at Shalom next week.  Awards Night is Tuesday night in the Sports Centre commencing at 6.30pm.  It is always a great night of entertainment and celebration of excellence.  Parents, if you are attending, please make a commitment to stay for the whole event rather than leave once your child gets their award.  Graduation is on Friday at 10.00am. Year 12 External exams, for those who have them, begin the following Monday.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
mcmahond@shalomcollege.com