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Editorial
Following the successful launch of Lion online for our August edition, we’re happy that as a Lion reader you can now access all future editions of our magazine in this way.
Current Deputy Principal and Head of Glen Waverley Richard Brenker is retiring this month, and our leading feature story celebrates his four decades of outstanding service to Wesley. It’s been an extraordinary career that extends over one quarter of the College’s long existence. There aren’t many jobs Richard hasn’t done at the College; the significance of his contribution is perhaps best summed in Principal Nick Evans’ comment that he has ‘directly or indirectly impacted the lives of many thousands of Wesley College students.’
The striking image of Artan Walker as Ship’s Master, braving the stormy seas in Glen Waverley’s musical production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, seems a particularly apt visual metaphor for the year we’ve had. No shipwreck for Wesley though; it seems we became adept at finding the positives in these tempestuous times to help us through. David Dunn’s feature story on the filming of The Tempest enlivens this point, and a quick glance at the smiling faces of teachers and students in our Snapshots pages as they engaged in the shifting life of our school in 2020 typifies our willingness to accept and adapt in changing times.
In that same spirit, I’ll leave the final thought to the wise-beyond-her-years Year 12 student Jem Kleinitz-Lister, who delivered this year’s Hollaway Oration at the St Kilda Road Campus. She spoke about recognising that we live in an unpredictable world far beyond our control, and how that can free us from the limiting stories we tell ourselves about our own lives: ‘In giving up our illusions, we are free to laugh in the face of the absurd world we live in, and better yet, we can laugh together.’
Erratum
Our Lion notice and obituary for Maurice Fabricant (OW1956) in the December 2019 edition referred incorrectly to the late Harold Fabricant (OW1960). Many thanks to all those who advised that Harold is very much alive. We apologise for what was, in the words of Mark Twain, a greatly exaggerated adjective.
Paul Munn, Lion Editor and features writer