Sonia Newell          Development Officer

Returning to School

Last Sunday, over 40 people, including 25 members of the Class of 1998 and many of their teachers, came to Emanuel School to celebrate their 20-year reunion.  It was a wonderful afternoon full of reminiscing about school days and lots of catching up, as the majority of these graduates had not seen each other or been back at Emanuel School since they completed Year 12  twenty years ago! Three of these alum are current parents and a huge thank you goes to two of them – Samantha Butt (nee Finger) and Eve Guerry (Head Madricha, 1998) who were instrumental in getting this, first-ever, reunion organised. It was held in the courtyard outside the Innovation Centre, with entertainment provided by our amazing Intermediate Jazz Ensemble and their mentor George Nikolopoulos.  Samantha Butt noted ‘The kids were fantastic – we had lots of positive feedback and we really appreciate their time. The students were lovely to chat to and a few stayed to pass around some food! Very sweet kids and just demonstrates the beautiful nature of the school.’ 

This group of Emanuel graduates includes Lara Pitt, TV Presenter and Sports Journalist and Andrei Dolnikov, well-renowned Interior Architect and founder/CEO of “Binyan Studios 3D Visualisation”, who were both part of our Year 11 and 12 Careers Space event in May this year. David Brook, along with his wife Hana, also attended. They were instrumental in organising the amazing collaborative artwork that hangs in the LINC Building.  Several alumni came from interstate (Brisbane and Melbourne) and one was here from London. A tour around the campus to showcase all the changes made over the past 20 years brought gasps and comments on how fantastic the school looks and how it has progressed since their own school days.

‘It was truly magical to be back with friends and teachers in a place that holds such fond memories for me.’  Greg Segal (Head Madrich and Dux of 1998)

                                                 Thank you also to alumnus, Justin Moddel (Class of 2001), who volunteered his time to come along to the reunion and make amazing coffees for everyone. (www.muggshotcoffee.com)

Last Sunday morning, along with about 50 other people, many of whom are members of our extended School Community, I attended the official Sydney launch of past parent Xanti Bootcov’s book “But They Look so Happy”.  This book is a powerful memoir about her family and their journey, adopting two young traumatized children from Mexico.  The publisher talk by past parent Joanne Fedler (www.joannefedler.com) was very moving.  Xanti and her husband now live in Mauritius but also travel extensively between Sydney and South Africa.  You can read more about her and her book on: www.xantibootcov.com

 Do you know about Jene Screen?

If you have news you would like to share with us, please let me know: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au