Inside this Issue - Redeemer Lutheran College

Staff NewsMark RasiDeputy Principal – CurriculumBorn and bred in Brisbane my wholelife, but I have tried to expand myhorizons with overseas travel. Visitingmy sister in Cambodia was ahighlight a few years ago.Staff TributeIn Memory of Karen RowlandsSchool was good to me. Mt Petrie Primary School had only about100 students when I went there and there were no Year 12students when I entered Redeemer in the 80’s.When I grew up I wanted to be a fireman like all boys and thenwhen I was in high school it was architecture. Finally when itwas time to make up my mind I chose PE teaching. Two teacherswho I looked up to were Mr John Proeve and Mr Fred Davey.My private life isn’t that private. Living, shopping, exercising andworshiping locally means that I see a lot of students and parentson the weekends. I enjoy the contact, while my girls (Rachel 13,Naomi 12 and Sarah 9) wonder why anyone would want to talkto me; “Dad you are not cool!”My wife Alix and I celebrated our 40th birthdays and 15 yearwedding anniversary last year by travelling to Scotland, England,Italy and Switzerland.Lifelong learning is not a 21st Century buzz word. Considerthe scriptures.Anastasia StrongHead of Senior SchoolI was born in London and migrated toAustralia with my parents when I was 10years old. After living in Melbourne for6 years, my parents moved to Brisbane.After graduating from high school, Ibegan my teaching degree at QUT KelvinGrove. I was employed by EducationQueensland in my first year and then, in 1994, accepted a job atRedeemer teaching English and Film and Television.In 1999, I left Redeemer and after a holiday in Europe withmy husband, Mark, fell pregnant with our first child, Maria.Maria was diagnosed profoundly deaf when she was a fewdays old. Having a child with special needs is a life changingexperience and it has helped me better understand studentswith special circumstances and the hopes and challenges sharedby their parents.My second child, Nicholas was born a couple of years later. BothMaria and Nicholas are students in the Junior School. My sister,Christina Bianchi is a Prep teacher in the Junior School.My return to Redeemer in 2005 was like a homecoming. Mypassion for pastoral care lead me to the role of Lavarack HouseLeader and more recently, Head of Senior School. I enjoyworking with teenagers. I wake up every morning feeling thatthis is my vocation. Of course some days are challenging, butwitnessing students grow in the academic, social and spiritualrealm and sharing in that journey is richly rewarding.Karen Vivian Rowlands was a born teacher. She was a teacherfor most of her adult life and for 20 of those years in Lutheranschooling. She taught English, German and Social Sciences andserved as a House Leader and then as the Head of Senior Schoolat Luther College in Melbourne. Seeking a sea change, she andhusband Mike moved to sunny Queensland where they madean immediate impact on the Redeemer community throughtheir expertise as teachers and, more importantly, through theirunfailing care to those around them.I knew Karen as a colleague and friend and I worked with herclosely for seven years. She was disciplined, energetic and fun. Shewas always ready to help. She had a natural eye for those whowere struggling and without hesitation would take timeto talk to them and show them a way through the difficulty. Karenmanaged this level of care for both students and staff;for those she knew well and for those whom she knew onlya little. One grew accustomed to walking past her desk and seeinga colleague in deep conversation with Karen at any time of theday. It is said of sports champions that they seem to have moretime to play the game. This was true of Karen, too: she seemed tohave more time for life in its complexity and in its simplicity. Karenembodied the idea that laughter was good for you; Karen’s smilingface matched her youthful readiness for each day.A few years ago I was fortunate enough to watch Karen teach alesson with a Year 11 English class. There was an English examlooming (stressful for students and teachers) but there was alsoan allocated time in each lesson for an informal non-assessed‘book chat’. Each student was to talk for a few minutes about abook that they had read and were to share that book with theirclass. Given that another seemingly more pressing task was athand, many teachers would have skipped the informal, morefun book chat. But the students had complete trust in Karen’sleadership of the lesson; they did not complain or question thewisdom of the activity and entered into the spirit of the lessonwith full enthusiasm. Karen’s students completely trusted her.Karen demonstrated servant-leadership. For 2007 we neededsomebody to take a middle management position as theCurriculum Leader for English Years 6-9. Karen had been an‘English Co-ordinator’ at a previous school and had alwayslaughed off any suggestion about returning to a role like that.But we needed her to step in with her wisdom and experienceand if she had any misgivings about accepting the role shedid not ever convey them. Similarly, when we needed to findsomebody to fill an ‘acting’ position as Head of Learning andTeaching P-9, Karen was there.16