Principal's Post

Have you tried doing a cleaning or duty roster at home for your own children? 

Trickier than it first appears.

What first presents itself as local unfairness quicklyexpands to issues of social justice nationally and even world wide. 

At our house, conversations around washing the dishes on afair and consistent timetable quickly expand to equity amongst the masses foreducational access, housing, safety, employment and cost of living.  

Teenagers are champions of social justice.

Teenagers are champions of fairness and equity.

Teenagers challenge the norms of their upbringing to make the world a better place.

Many times, such action against the norm is met with resistance.

What were you passionate about as a teenager? What did you challenge and push against?  Were you met with resistance?

Theologian, writer and Franciscan priest, Richard Rohrreminds us that we see this challenging of the norms in Jesus: “He burst in to the temple and flipped over tables because poor people were being taken advantage of (see Matthew 21:12).” I follow Richard’s Center for Action and Contemplation.

Marie Madeliene d’Houet was a champion of champions; challenging the notion that education was for the privileged and noble. Marie provided access to education for girls in a variety of backgrounds in Amiens France. I wonder if Marie felt like flipping tables in tackling this challenge. 

Inspired by such examples, our student body aim their flipping energies towards raising awareness and money for our friends at Malbago Village in the Philippines. In the past, we raised money to sponsor students in their tertiary studies; this shall continue next year, yet in 2026, we shift our focus to an immediate need - housing. The village has come into more land. Enough room to build 3 duplexes. 6 houses for 6 families. These houses stand strong in cyclones protecting families who would normally be under loosely constructed corrugated sheeting. To be eligible for a house you must spend 500 hours building a house first another. The families have been identified yet they money for building material. Our students have laid brick as part of their immersion. We have an opportunity to fight inequity for our friends.

Start gathering your cash. Notes and coins a plenty. Every dollar goes to bricks, mortar and reinforced steel rods. We raise money for this cause on Founders Day 14^th August. A day celebrating the beginning of our college some 126 years ago.

I shall continue to drive a duty roster in our house, in essence, a trivial matter, yet a worthy lesson. More widely, I see FCJ College teenagers passionately fight for fairness and equity within their world. Our teenagers may feel like flipping tables, yet I find they display a level of respect and calm that is quite admirable. Let us support their ambitious target. 

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