Issue 21 12 July 2019 12 July 2019 21 Welcome back from the cosiness of a decidedly wet winter’s break to the vibrancy of Term 3. I spoke to the high school in assembly this week about GRIT – and I wasn’t talking about the uniform suppliers, although one can see why that company is so named. Grit is the perseverance and passion to achieve long–term goals. Sometimes you will hear grit referred to as mental toughness. Angela Duckworth, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that grit is a strong predictor of success and ability to reach one's goals. Most things worth achieving involve huge effort and the tenacity and steadfast determination that is understood by the term ‘grit’: the ballerina who dances on bleeding toes; the Comrades athlete who forges through the agony of cramp s and blisters; the astronaut who spends decades preparing for a single mission, only to spend most of his time upside down, while his teammates walk on the moon: these know that it is grit that sees them through. History’s heroes overcame often insurmountable odds to succeed in the face of adversity: the prisoners who endured the quarries and torments of Robben Island in order to birth our nation; the Mother Theresa’s of this world who work with the poor and rejected; the cleansing surrender of Ramadan; Christ crucified. 2 12 July 2019 21 FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF GRIT Courage Conscientiousness Perseverance Resilience Passion So we exhort our learners to leave their winter nest and take on the term with Grit: PLEASE DIARISE! Tuesday, 16 July Grade 8 & 9 Parent Evening Tuesday, 23 July Grade 10 & 11 Parent Evening Wednesday, 24 July PAC Elections Saturday, 27 July OPEN DAY! You’ll never make history in your comfort zone! Tuesday, 30 July Grade 9 Subject Choice evening Saturday, 24 August Fives Futbol Festival Regards Mrs Bentley 3 12 July 2019 21 FIND YOUR SPARK Welcome back to the exciting third term. This term is always a busy one with plenty of activities to be involved in. As each term starts it is always good to reflect on what worked or didn’t work in the past to ensure that progress is made. This is something we want each learner to do with their academics and set benchmarks to achieve throughout the term. Whilst academics is always a focus and ultimately the purpose of schooling, I need to highlight the importance of the extra-curricular programme. Through sport, culture and clubs, learners develop skills which they learn and grow through activities whilst having fun. These areas are key for the development of a learner and should be encouraged. It also allows those who may not be as academically gifted to shine in different areas. From this past holiday the experience and life lessons that many of our learners achieved where incredible. It is hard work and commitment that gets these learners to where they are and as a fledgling high school I think the level of achievement that our number of learners excelled is testimony to the passion and commitment of the teachers involved. • Firstly to our U18 Soccer boys who travelled to Johannesburg to compete in the Curro Nationals. With an average age in the team of 15 years, we knocked off the older opposition and brought home the Curro Nationals Trophy. • Onye Benjamin (u15 boys captain), Jordan Baartman (U15 girls) and Jarred Hendricks (u17) represented Curro and Hellenic for the Regional SAFA competition. • Errin Leak, Jarred Hendricks and Caleb Avontuur representing Hellenic Football Club on their Knysna tour. • Chadley Rosevear represented South Africa in Juniors tennis, beating Slovakia and Czech Republic. • Thyra Aberdein competed in Hungary in the Komarom FCI CACIB International Dog Shows and The Hungarian National Championship Poodle Show. • Mika Noble and Anovuyo Blom selected to represent Century City in the Curro Create Concert this weekend, where professional singers and performers train and develop skills during rehearsals. • Vuyo Kwakweni selected to perform at the Stellenbosch Music Programme. • Makaira Govender Competed in Talent America representing RSA, she competed in two categories and placed second in Vocal Gospel and 3rd Runner up in Vocal Pop. • Our boys competed in Pretoria North at the Zambezi Arena for WP Action Cricket. The team placed 5th overall. The 12 -man squad is made up of 7 of Century City’s players. • Rajveer Jolly received a bursary to attend Space Camp in Florida, he spent a week exploring and training to be an astronaut. Stimulating Science, Engineering and Mathematics and ultimately gaining one step closer to his dream of travelling to Mars. • Tylana Russell is competing in Miss Teen RSA and needs as many votes as possible. Please SMS ‘vote tylana’ to 39945 to assist her reaching her dream! There may be many more achievements from our talented learners and I hope to hear of them soon. But to think that this is some of the things that are happening within our school is an incredible achievement. I cannot wait to see what else we all can be involved in. Let’s go out, challenge ourselves and find our spark.... You can do it. Kind regards 4 12 July 2019 21 SINGING AT TALENT AMERICA Makaira Govender took part in the Talent America Competition held in New York these pa st holidays. She competed against participants from Connecticut, Colorado, Washington, Alabama, New York and South Africa. She received 2nd place in her age category in the vocal gospel category and 3rd runner up in her age category for the vocal pop category. The categories were vocals, instruments, acting and dancing. We congratulate Makaira on her results and are proud of how she is positively representing our school and our country! 5 12 July 2019 21 SPACE CAMP IN FLORIDA Huntsville, AL – I recently attended Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre, home of Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics™, Aviation Challenge®, U.S. Cyber Camp® and NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre’s Official Visitor Centre. The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving. This program is specifically designed for trainees who have a passion for space exploration. I spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon or Mars. The crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk. My crew and I returned to earth in time to graduate with honours. Space Camp operates year-round in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA. 6 12 July 2019 21 SPACE CAMP IN FLORIDA Coincidentally I got the opportunity to watch a Falcon Heavy launch by SpaceX. Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. The launch made me emotional because the sight was beautiful. I watched It with my mentor, Julia Bergeron, who I cannot thank enough for everything she has done during my stay at Florida. What a memorable experience! Earlier this year when I received the news that I was awarded a full tuition leadership scholarship, I was tremendously excited and honoured that I was chosen out of 470 children all around the world. To be honest though, within a few minutes I became worried and somewhat uncertain on how I will get to the US. I knew it was possible, but I didn’t know if I would be able to acquire the financial support. I started a fundraiser campaign and reached out to the community to crowdfund my tickets to the US To my surprise, within a matter of 2 weeks I was able to reach my goal of R28 000 which proved to me that no matter what I do, my family, friends and supporters always have my back . The experiences that I got from Space Camp and my visit are truly priceless. How did this all happen? It all happened because of your support. I want to thank everyone who supported me in embarking on this journey. I am truly grateful, and I will remember you throughout the adventures and journeys I commence ❤ Because of you, I was able to reach new heights. Because of you, I got a step closer to reaching my Mars. 7 12 July 2019 21 DOG SHOWING IN HUNGARY Thyra Aberdein went to Hungary to attend the Komarom FCI CACIB International Dog Shows and the Hungarian National Championship Poodle Show. She placed 2nd and 3rd in many of the categories. Thyra also went to Austria for a learning and show experience at the European Dog Show 2019 where she showed a Giant Schnauzer, Long haired Dachshund, and a Boston Terrier. When Thyra was not showing she was grooming dogs. 8 12 July 2019 21 ACCOUNTING OLYMPIAD We would like to congratulate Adam Crafford who qualified for the second round of the Poverto Accounting Olympiad which will be held on 31 July. He also partook in the Business Studies and Economics Olympiad and despite our school not offering Economics as a subject, Adam received 67% for the Olympiad. Well done! CHADLEY’S EUROPEAN TOUR Chadley Rosevear represented South Africa in a recent European Tennis Tour. Well done for representing our school and country so well! He won all his games against Slovakia and the Czech Republic.