Mitch's Extraordinary Act of Service
This fortnight Orange Anglican Grammar School has excelled in both the sporting and academic fields whilst building stronger ties in our local and wider community. Hosting both the WAS and HICES Cross Country Carnivals and competing in the academic da Vinci Decathlon held in Canberra, allowed us to demonstrate that our School, after 11 years of development, is now on a level playing field with the most well established schools in the state.
Our Division Two HICES Cross Country win will now move us up to Division One. That coupled with our Secondary students 2nd place in Maths, 3rd place in General Knowledge and 6th overall in our first attempt at the prestigious da Vinci Decathlon against 25 highly competitive schools, demonstrated that we are capably flexing both physical and academic muscle at OAGS.
Whilst I am keen to emphasise to our community that we are achieving great things in sports and academics across our Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 program, there are achievements at the School that cannot be measured in seconds, millimetres or even through well-established academic programs and placements. The truth is that our real success as a Christian community comes from loving and supporting each other.
There are many day to day accounts of this, but amongst all the fun, competition and success of the HICES Cross Country carnival, we had one amazing act of kindness and care that stood out as a best example of what we are striving to achieve at OAGS. Mitchell Wheeler (Year 5) was in the middle of his race when a competitor from Redlands Junior School fell and was having trouble continuing. Mitch stopped and went back to help the runner. He then walked with him and helped him finish the last kilometre of the course. The staff from Redlands were full of praise and amazement for Mitch's actions. Mitch crossed the line last in the race. ‘People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.’ Luke 13:29-30
Mitch came a glorious last place in the race and demonstrated what it takes to come first in life and first in the hearts and minds of all those who witnessed his actions of sacrificial service. By coming last through his actions of grace, Mitch came first in the eyes of the officials. It was with great pride that I presented Mitchell with a Headmaster’s Award and OAGS Pin for an ‘Extraordinary Act of Service’.
