Farewell Graduating Class of 2023
This year, the College decided to celebrate the graduating class a little differently to previous years.
Beginning with a whole school assembly, Mr Beins opened proceedings by welcoming everyone. He then invited our 2024 Head Boy and Head Girl, Bryce Mitchell and Esther Willett-Green to the stage as the MC's for this event. After a brief introduction and overview from our MC's, House Co-ordinators were invited to the stage to introduce each graduating member of their house into the gym. Our graduates walked in with pride, wearing their Class of 2023 sashes whilst looking up at their name on the screen alongside their individual school and baby photos.
Once everyone was seated, Bryce respectfully carried out the Acknowledgement of Country and Esther followed with our College prayer. Our Principal, Mr Correia then addressed the College with a heartfelt speech about what this group of individuals have achieved personally and as a whole cohort. He shared with us how he interviewed all of these students in their first year at St Luke's, so thought it was fitting to interview them again in their last year. He asked them about their experience at St Luke's and sought feedback on what the school did well or could do better. The general consensus amongst this cohort was essentially the same. Each spoke of the high regard they have for the teachers and staff of our College and how its helped shaped who they are today. He spoke highly of their character, how he will miss their banter and wished them all the best as they take this next step into life beyond St Luke's. A few tears may have been shed by some....
We moved on to the presentation of the ATAR Excellence Awards. Congratulations to Anaelle Trost, Zane Goes, Katelyn Cox, Riley Fletcher and Ruby Murphy for their academic achievements. The Dux of 2023 was awarded to Zane Goes and the Proxime of 2023 was awarded to Anaelle Trost. Next, General Excellence Awards were presented to Mackenzie Hartland, Noah Moretti, Dean Keane, Anaelle Trost, Annalise Scoringe and Emma Harrison. The Industry Bound Dux for 2023 was awarded to Mackenzie Hartland and Industry Bound Proxime of 2023 to Rohan Collins. A massive thank you to Santos Ltd, Yara Pilbara and Rio Tinto for sponsoring the Dux and Proxime Awards.
Mrs Potter continued on with the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Awards with Abbey Swalling taking out the Overall Excellence in School Based Traineeship Award. Rohan Collins was awarded the Overall Excellence in Certificate IV and Emma Harrison was presented the Overall Excellence in VET Award. Thank you to our sponsors Cherratta Lodge, Westug and Rapid Air.
Other special awards were presented to the following students:
| Principals Award | Dinoshan Subramoney | Sponsored by Pilbara Real Estate |
| Citizenship Award | Charlotte Bendall | Sponsored by Pilbara Kimberley University Centres |
| Best All-Round Achievement Award | Anaelle Trost | Sponsored by Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC |
| Service & Leadership Award | Emer O'Brien | Kevin Michel MLA, Member for Pilbara |
| Sports Person Award | Georgie Third | Dampier Community Association |
| ADF Long Tan Award | Anaelle Trost | Australian Defence Force |
| ADF Future Innovators Award | Zane Goes | Australian Defence Force |
| Senior Arts & Cultural Award | Dean Keane | City of Karratha |
| Walkington Award | Zane Goes |
Our MC's gave thanks to all our Sponsors for their ongoing support of the College and congratulated all our Award winners on their amazing achievements before handing over to our Head Boy & Head Girl (Murphy Watts and Lily Carrigg) to address the College one last time. Both students spoke about the highlights of their high school journey, reflecting on all the successful events they executed with help from the student executive team. They thanked their Teachers and the wider school community for all their support and guidance and closed their speeches addressing their peers - wishing the Class of 2023 all the best in the future endeavours. A highlight was Rohan Collin's speech on behalf of the Year 12 cohort. It was funny, light hearted and true to his character and had the whole audience laughing. It was a brilliant sedge way into the Year 12 video that played next. A lot of work went into the making of this video. Countless skits, interviews of staff and students, photos and videos reminiscent of their last year at St Luke's. Finally, Miss Braund called for the Year 11 2024 Student Exec to begin the Guard of Honour for the St Luke's graduating class of 2023 to take their leave. Our Year 12's had a busy day ahead with celebrations to continue in their houses with morning tea provided by fellow students and their families.
Later in the day, Year 12's attended St Paul's Church for Graduation Mass before heading over to the Red Earth Arts Precinct for dinner with their families and St Luke's staff. Mrs Potter and Mrs Kleynhans did a magnificent job decorating the space and Mrs Guthrie provided some yummy treats to accompany dessert. It was a great night of celebration for our graduates, complete with a fun photo booth to share and capture those last special moments with each other.
A very special thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the days events and a final congratulations and good luck to the Graduating Class of 2023!
