The Calling - Year 9 Rite Journey begins
Year 9 students, Alexander Bourne and Jackie Van Lierop, share with us some of their experience of The Calling.
On 28-29 February, the Year 9 boys had their Calling. This was an amazing experience as it was the first step of our transition to becoming adults. We had plenty of activities before we slept overnight in the Savio centre. The first activity was collecting rocks for us to write things about our boyhood we wanted to leave behind. All the boys wrote or drew all the qualities of a good man, we elaborated on these and made a final good copy. Then there was some free time while the Houses swapped to cook our dinner. We then watched an inspirational movie about teamwork and determination called Coach Carter.
The next morning we woke up about 4.30am to catch a bus up to the summit of Mount Wellington, we watched the sunrise and then threw the rocks we wrote on off the side. We then had a difficult 4-hour hike down the mountain all the way back to school to have a barbecue lunch. This was an once in a lifetime experience for me and for many of my other classmates.
Alexander Bourne - Year 9 student
On Thursday 28 February, Year 9 students completed their first ceremony on The Rite Journey. This was called the ‘Calling’. The Calling is one if the many ceremonial activities that are a part of The Rite Journey. In my personal experience, ‘The Calling’ was a way to build many new friendships as well as strengthening those I already had.
When our classes had ended, we all got changed and went our separate ways. - boys to the Savio Centre and girls to the Savio Hub. We started with a quick round of circle time, getting to know everyone in the room. After this, we completed some tasks: a survey and creating our Puti-puties. (Puti-puties are a flower made from harakeke).
This was a great experience, bringing out our creative sides. An hour later we went for tea, the boys had cooked delicious soft tacos for the girls and themselves. We ate and chatted with the boys until Mr Davey called us all in to the gym.
We played a fun game together and went up to watch a movie and sleep. We woke up extra early, watched the sunrise from the springs and walked down the mountain. After we released our Puti-puti, we went back to Dominic enjoying the walk with friends along the way.
Jackie Van Lierop - Year 9 student
A Catholic School in the Salesian Tradition
