FLASHBACK FRIDAY | Let’s skip back to 2005, before Facebook and smartphones, and when MySpace was having a moment. It was the year YouTube was launched, Pope John Paul II passed away, the Airbus A380 first flight was operated, the dwarf planet Eris was discovered, and the Kyoto Protocol officially came into effect.
Recently we were lucky enough to chat with Julia Green, former College Captain (2005), and relive some memorable moments from that year. Legendary teacher, Ms McLean was the Year 12 Coordinator at the time. Julia remembers Ms McLean’s great leadership style, and the time she treated her cohort to a funny homemade video. She was dressed up in 80s style activewear (think big hair, high cut leotard and bright coloured tights) whilst dancing and miming the lyrics of “We Built this City” (by Starship, 1985) outside of the Steelworks (Bluescope).
Julia recalled another funny memory from the swimming carnival that year. At each carnival there was a ‘charity fun race,’ where handicaps were placed on the Houses that raised the least amount of money for their charity. Theresa Mullan (Creative Arts Captain) was in the pool representing Lourdes (former Gibbons House), she was given quite a few handicaps in the race including extra clothing and other physical impediments. All the spectators were loudly cheering on the competitors and laughing at Theresa - who appeared to be putting on a hilarious act of struggling to swim but was in fact nearly drowning due to all the handicaps. Luckily, Daniela Specogna soon realised and jumped into the pool fully clothed to rescue Theresa!
Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of the heroic rescue or Ms McLean in a leotard, but we do have some of the 2005 Swimming Carnival, courtesy of St Mary’s Archives. Enjoy!
Don't forget to grab your tickets for the 2025 Decades Reunion, it will be the perfect opportunity to get together to reminisce and celebrate.
https://events.humanitix.com/2025-st-mary-star-of-the-sea-decades-alumnae-reunion
