Mercy News

On Sunday 4 August the Mercy College Stage Band participated in their first CQUniversity Schools Jazz Festival at the Central QLD Conservatorium of Music (CQCM) in Ooralea. The students experienced an hour long workshop with CQCM lecturing staff before an adjudicated performance for Mr Ray Cassar. They then participated in a workshop with Ray who helped them improve their style, musical understanding and performance skills. The day culminated in a public performance where each school presented two pieces, with Ray Cassar performing alongside them. Special congratulations to our soloists of the day – Jerome Rillera and Liam Gall. Overall the students had a fabulous day and were awarded a Silver Award which is an awesome effort for a beginning ensemble!

On Wednesday 7 August, the Australian Air Force arrived at Mercy College ready to provide some lucky students with an education in aviation. Forty students were invited to participate in a range of flight simulations, virtual reality experiences and airspace management challenges. This experience was led by an amazing team of servicing service people and pilot training specialists. Through their wealth of experience and simulation activities, students were able to get an insight into the challenges and enjoyment of aviation.

The highlight of the experience was the F-18 Super Hornet simulator, where students were required to take off, neutralise targets, complete aerobatics and then land their $90 million aircraft. Although many students left the simulation defeated, some of our budding future pilots managed to bring the Hornet down with perfection.

The annual Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival is one of the highlights on the Mackay Festival of Arts calendar. Mr Crocker and teaching staff from the English Department travelled to Whitsunday Anglican School with our entire Year 8 cohort to be entertained and informed by renowned authors such as Sophie Hardcastle, Steven Herrick, Jeann Wong and Astrid Scholte.

Similarly, the following day saw 16 members of the Mercy Book Club appreciate the likes of Li Cunxin (Author of “Mao’s Last Dancer), Steven Herrick (Author and Poet), Michael Gerard Bauer (Author) and Jeann Wong (Blogger and Reviewer).

Once again, it was an enjoyable day with marvellous weather and I trust the students had a positive experience by engaging in an environment that celebrated and promoted literacy and literature.

Justice@Mercy students delivered cookies for kindness in the afternoon of Wed 31July. We delivered cookies to CASA Mackay Community Accommodation and Support Agency, Mackay Women's Centre/Lowanna House & Samaritan House, Lifeline/Uniting Care, Kalyan House, Ozcare Men's Shelter, Police Station, Department of Child Safety and Headspace.

All of the agencies were very grateful to be recognised for the work they do. The students learnt about what these agencies do to support our community. Thank you to all the generous people who donated their time to make these cookies. Justice@Mercy loved spreading these small acts for kindness for Catholic Education Week.

St Mary’s students joined Justice@Mercy students to deliver the cookies to the Ambulance and Fire stations on Thursday. It was very exciting to watch the genuine joy on the faces of both the recipients of the cookies for kindness and the students delivering them.

The Mercyless and MiniMercs Human Powered Vehicle teams raced in Emerald in the 16 hour CQUniversity Central Highlands Endurance race. The teams of eight riders and two pit crew raced from 4:00pm until 8:00am making sure the vehicles raced continuously overnight.

MiniMercs came 1st in their category of Junior Mixed, while Mercyless came 4th in the very competitive Junior Boys category.

The teams’ overall positions were 7th and 8th out of a field of 22 vehicles. This is their second race and an amazing achievement for such young teams in their first year of racing. The best part of the Mercy teams was not the results, but other schools commenting how they loved to watch our two teams. They were always supportive and up-beat during driver changes and even when the chain broke they just got to work to fix it - with no complaints. They really displayed excellent leadership and show cased the Values of our College.