Friday - Discovering the Roots

Today's class day was focused on discovering the deeper roots of St. Ignatius' College, some fascinating history of the School and of Australia.  We had a wonderful talk by one of Riverview's History teachers about the history of Australia, and especially its strong connections to the USA.  Especially in war-time, our countries have forged a very strong link, and the affection for the States is very clear.  We then had a class conducted in the School's archives collection, by the resident archivist, that showed so many artifacts and memorabilia of the School's life, with a special focus on
World War II
Digging through old yearbooks of the School

Typical Riverview school uniform
After some more class visiting, we were invited to an "Indigenous Smoking Ceremony".  A wonderful experience of Welcome by the students of Aboriginal heritage at Riverview.  (No tobacco was involved.)  The ceremony was a spiritual ritual of 'cleansing' as a way to cast away any evil spirits, as we 'newcomers' were welcomed to the 'Land', which is so sacred to Aboriginal peoples.  It was very moving, to say the least.

More on the 'rowing experience' to come.  Stay tuned!



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