CULTURE CAPTAIN

Another Year gone... 2009 was a year of good memories and achievement in the cultural areas of the college. From a fantastic music evening, seeing some of the incredible talent we have hidden away in the school to the junior production Robin Hood which saw some of the younger ones really come into their own. 2009 gave birth to America's child "The Recession" while we lost our dear friend MJ. Swine Flu swept the nation but thankfully school remained open and the culture of the school flourished. Year 13s were able to bond with younger students during the school this year because of the new vertical forms as well as the locked common room approach. We thought it was better to hang out with the rest of the school...

I was honored to be on the leadership team for St Thomas this year and being the Culture Captain allowed to me to get involved with students from all ages around the college. Working with the guys involved with the junior production was definitely a highlight for me this year seeing some of the guys that you've never heard speak before to see them progress to owning the stage with a great performance was something special.

A quietly successful team was our senior theatre sports who made it to the finals unbeaten in all the rounds beating schools from around Christchurch as well as taking out the festival round blasting out the competition. They were placed third in the final which was an outstanding achievement for the year.

A time of mourning was when McLintock was robbed of precious points on St Thomas day for singing, which definitely had something to do with the judging from the lovely ladies. But I feel if we had the three girls I had chosen from our dear sister school the outcome surely would have been different. This is a result that will leave an emptiness about my final year...

The recession didn't seem to bring down the giving spirit at the annual charity Variety Concert. We raised well over $700. This concert brought out some interesting hidden sides of people kicked off by the tight, white and pink performance of Ricky Martin by Mena Malik and Karl Belcher. The night allowed some of the boys to show their affectionate side for one another summed up by the flawless finale by the year 13s who really showed up a mild effort from the Villa dancing group earlier (all credit for them giving it a go though). We also got to see more of Marc Smith than we ever thought we would. Aussies... no surprises there!

There was a lot of work behind the scenes in both the Variety Concert and the production, so I would just like to personally thank the teachers, parents and students that put work in to help those events such a success!

This year's music evening was a great social night which saw the likes of Christian Williams and Logan Buck wowing the audience with their talent. Mr. Webber puts in a lot of hours with the guys in the music area and his time and skills do not go un-noticed.  The school's band helped us get through some of those assembly's that you never thought would end and was always putting on a good performance at school events in their own time so a big thank you to you guys.

Another cultural event was the annual Bishop Lyons Shield Competition and to sum it up you will always remember fourth and a home ground advantage definately helps... a lot of fun had by all that weekend.

So it's time to day goodbye to St Thomas'. My time here has been a treat but it is time to move on and bring change. What a wonderful time I have had, thank you to all. I'll leave always asking myself "where am I going, how am I going and where to next", love Bruce the Bull.

By Jacob Allen