General News
8 June, 2022
College pirates raise cancer funds
SWASHBUCKLING buccaneers and shanties from the high seas were all the rage at Mortlake College’s Dress like a Pirate Day last week.
SWASHBUCKLING buccaneers and shanties from the high seas were all the rage at Mortlake College’s Dress like a Pirate Day last week.
The student cohort donned their best pirate costumes last Friday to raise vital funds for brain cancer research.
Students supplied gold coin donations to raise the funds, which unconfirmed reports suggest could have been plundered from British Royal Navy ships or unearthed buried treasure.
Mortlake College principal Sean Fitzpatrick said while the day was full of fun and games, the concept was entirely student-driven.
He praised the efforts of students, facilitated through student leadership manager Tain Seltan, to identify a cause worth supporting and create the concept of how to raise funds.
“We’re starting to see a lot more of the students driving these days within the school, which is something we want to keep seeing,” he said.
“It’s really about their engagement and where they want to have impact."
“They identified brain cancer research as something they wanted to contribute to, much like the flood raffle we held last term; it’s those things the students are doing to makea difference."
“When you dress up, it’s about school and peer connectedness as well.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said the students made a “terrific” effort to dress for the occasion and support the cause.
“We just had a bit of fun, and I think it’s those days the students will always remember,”he said.
Additional activities included designing custom pirate ship flags, cutting out pirate-themed masks and a treasure hunt during lunch.
“The treasure hunt was led by Tain (Seltan), but it was again our student leaders running that,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
“We want to keep seeing the students promote and create these days because it is their school, and we want to enable them to be agents of that."
“It’s important and something we’re working on as a staff.”