Have You Heard?

In light of Greater Victoria's bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, former Swisse Managing Director and Old Ivanarian Adem Karafili '95 (left) has been appointed Chairman of the committee. We wish Adem and his team goodluck for a successful 2030 Commonwealth Games bid. (Adem pictured with former Olympic athlete John Steffenson at the Ballarat Town Hall)

Congratulations to Akshaya Ravi ’08 for being named as a finalist for the 2017 Lawyers Weekly ‘30 Under 30’ awards in the area of Commercial Law. These awards not only identify the best young lawyers across Australia, but enable career progression through industry-wide recognition for professional competency. A panel of high-profile judges will select two winners for each category, which will be announced at a cocktail event at The Ivy Ballroom, Sydney on 23 June 2017. Best of luck to this rising Commercial Lawyer!

Steve Beck ’97 has released his new book ‘The Adventures of Cloud Girl’ in which he co-wrote and co-illustrated. Steve released the book through his business “Left shoe lost” which is a creative incubation company focused on creating inspiring content for kids, which ranges from a variety of mediums including: pictures books, series content, films, online and progressive mediums like VR/AR immersive entertainment experiences. Steve is no novice within the industry as he has had 30 years of experience in the film and animation industries. With Steve’s love of telling stories and his drive to create inspiring characters, he hopes to promote creativity and entertain kids around the world. You can grab a copy via clicking the link bellow.

Calling all alum! Our very own Eben Martin ‘05 is currently in the run to be the next Bondi vet but… he needs our help! Eben was nominated with 49 other Australian vets who are in the running. Eben is currently ranked #30 so let’s rally behind our old boy and get Eben to #1! Vote by clicking through the link bellow.

Three generations of the Squirrell family, including nine-year-old Oscar, have battled “debilitating” Himalayan conditions and managed to trek to Mount Everest base camp. Mark Squirrell, '89, along with his 75-year-old mother, Jane, and nine-year-old son Oscar, shared an incredible experience together. The avid walkers from Arthurs Creek conquered the 10-day trek, walking between four and six hours daily, before reaching base camp at an altitude of almost 5500m.

Old boy John Forbes '59 has put together the most memorable collection of memorabilia. A collection so big and so impressive it is getting its own museum so more people can share in the stories of Forbesy and his passion for sporting memorabilia. What sets this enormous collection apart from others is that many of the pieces have a strong personal connection with the 75-year-old through his long career with Puma and across a raft of charitable works. Fittingly, Forbesy has agreed to hand his collection over free of charge to the Rochester Lions Club, who will use it to start the Rochester Sports Museum.

Fashion Designer Sara Bailes ’01 has recently launched her self-titled clothing line which has been described as, ‘sophisticated, fresh, sporty and chic’. Check out her online store and make sure you drop the code “Ivanhoe” at checkout for 40% off.

Congratulations to alumni Tom Hoogenraad, Plenty School Captain 2016, for being awarded The Mick Malthouse Elite Sports Bursary. This is a once off bursary, to the value of $10,000, to help you fund your studies while you pursue your sporting dreams! Tom is a member of the Victorian Junior Cross Country ski team and is aiming to be selected in the Australian team this year and was tested at the AIS in April with the current members of the Australian Junior and Australian teams. He will be using the bursary to travel to Switzerland at the end of the year to train and race. Congratulations Tom, we're so pleased for you.

Fadi Jabbour ’16 has recently started pursing his dream of becoming a rapper and is fast creating a name in the industry. On stage, Fadi goes by “Efjay” and he recently debuted his first single “whos laughing now” and performed a live freestyle at a hip hop bar in Melbourne’s CBD.The aspiring rapper said he would never have thought that he would actually pursue a career in hip hop, but he started making pop and rock music at a very early age, then at 12 years old, he was inspired by Eminem’s “Not Afraid” which sparked an interest in becoming a rapper himself. Fadi described himself as a determined, focused student while at Ivanhoe Grammar School and is enjoying studying (Bachelor of) Arts Music Industry at RMIT (city Campus). Fadi says, “It's a course that is perfect for me and I really enjoy it as every class and piece of information that I absorb is relevant to what I want to do in the future” A admirable young alum, we would like to wish Fadi a long and successful career in the hip hop industry!

Congratulations to the creative and talented Grace Cooper '14 who won first place in the RMIT Student Floral Fashion Design Competition at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Grace's impressive design can be viewed through clicking the button bellow. Well done Grace!!

Ayden Hurst '15 has accepted a scholarship to play college Rugby Union in the USA for Lindenwood University, Missouri. Ayden is keen to progress his rugby and academic endeavours in the USA as he will be studying a 4 year advertising degree. Congratulations Ayden.

A big congratulations to Robert Mackenzie '93 (pictured left) for winning an Oscar for sound mixing on the film HacksawRidge. What an amazing achievement! Teacher Judy Hewett, who was head of middle school when Robert was at Ivanhoe Grammar School, was over the moon when she heard the news. She said Robert was always determined to become a sound engineer. Judy was so proud to see her former student up on stage. “Robbie was such a likeable character at school. He struggled a bit with the academic side but always knew what he wanted to do when he finished. His mum was determined that he finish year 12 and he did. This award is well deserved after many years of hard work. He always wanted to do it. Its just so good. Its great.” Click the link bellow to read more.

The month of November saw 50 alumni who collectively represented a >50 year span of Ivanhoe Grammar School graduates, actively support men’s health online and in person. From donning a fake moustache for the OIG Movember ‘Mug Shot’ awareness-raising campaign, to growing a real mo and raising hundreds of dollars individually for the important work of the Movember Foundation, there was no shortage of support from our Old Ivanhoe community. The Men’s Health Forum held on Thursday 10 November at The Ridgeway Campus, involved the Global Research Lead for the Movember Foundation, Mark Buzza ’90 inform an audience of 70 (mostly) alumni, current and past parents about the initiatives and projects around mitigating and managing prostate and testicular cancer, as well as addressing various mental health issues and the prevalence of suicide. It was wonderful to have alumna Molly Hyndman nee Trouse ’03 – Movember’s PR Manager – at this Forum who furthered Movember’s key messages and raised $450 worth of Mo merchandise too! The Old Ivanhoe Grammarians’ Association applauds the alumni who individually participated in the Movember campaign, and to mark this commitment the Association proudly made a donation of $480 in recognition of the following alumni efforts: Keith Wilkinson ’66, Matthew Aitchison ’90, Mark Buzza ’90, Anthony McKay ’94, Mark Begbie ’98, Scott Curatolo ’00, Scott Weston ’03, Shayne Marshall ’03, Saul Smith ’03, Jamie Hyndman ’03, Nick Stecher ’04, Jake Dempsey ’04, Molly Hyndman ’05, Michael Bacskos ’09, Adam Veli ’10 and Nathaniel Karam ’13.

We congratulate Nathan Riali '09 for coming second at this years Stawell Gift at 12.27 seconds. A fantastic achievement for someone who only started taking athletics seriously in 2013 when Nathan decided to get some coaching from old boy Scott Rowsell ’93.

Shae Wissell '97 is the founder and host of Dear Dyslexic, an open forum to discuss all topics relating to dyslexia and learning difficulties. Originally trained as a Speech Pathologist, Shae went on to complete a Master’s degree in Public Health and Health Administration. Through her work as a speech pathologist, public health practitioner and her own personal experiences of having dyslexia, Shae has developed a passion for supporting young people and adults with dyslexia, and learning difficulties. "On this site www.deardyslexic.com you’ll find the Dear Dyslexic Podcasts, which are hosted by me, Shae Wissell. In the series I’ll talk to different people about dyslexia, with a focus on young people and adults in the workplace. I’ll share my own personal experiences, speak with fellow dyslexics, and with experts in the field to try to reduce some of the myths and stigma around dyslexia and learning difficulties. I hope that the podcasts will be a useful tool for education professionals, supervisors and managers who have employees with dyslexia and learning difficulties, policy makers and health professionals." For more information please go to this website

We applaud Mitch Bodycoat and his team ‘Rapid Ascent’ for finishing 35th out of 99 teams who competed in the World Adventure Race Championships. The race requires each team to travel the entire course together, while never being more than 50 meters apart. Mitch and his team kayaked, mountain biked, trekked, pack-rafted and caved their way through 14 gruelling legs in the Shoalhaven region of NSW, whist navigating without digital aids, day and night to reach 60 check points along the course. Mitch and his team completed the race in 137 hours which is almost 6 days of racing which included only 12 hours of sleep – an enormous feat and supported by the OIGA.

Congratulations to our very own Lana Murphy '10 who has recently started working as a video journalist for the conglomerate Nine network.

Nathaniel recently competed in the 3 Minute Thesis competition. Having won the Melbourne University Final, he competed in the ASIA PACIFIC GRAND FINAL at the University of Queensland on Friday 30 September. Nathaniel presented his thesis "Teenage Crime - Making Sense of It" and was announced as the RUNNER-UP in the field of 50 top PhD students from the leading universities across the Asia-Pacific region.

President Wayne Vanderwert and Members of the Association heartily congratulate Daniel Proietto, School Captain 1996, on his being elected Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Board’s Annual General Meeting in March. Daniel has been a Board member since 2010 and is also a past councillor of the OIGA. Daniel becomes only the fourth Ivanarian to Chair the Board in its 102 years history and we wish him well as he leads us into what will be exciting times for the School.

An exceptional achievement by every measure, but particularly exciting for this Disney fan - James Minas composed the majority of the music for Disney’s new trailer ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This Hollywood production boasts stars such as Emma Watson and Ewan McGregor and will be in theatres on March 17, 2017. Congratulations to James and his business partner Lydia Davies for continuing to achieve such notoriety through their business KUDU Sounds, which focuses primarily on creating customised music for moving image and live projects.

World-class athlete, Jordon Risstrom successfully completed an Ironman Triathlon in Mallocra, Spain in October. The gruelling event requires a 3.8km swim, 180km ride and a 42km run through the Spanish coastline made up of pristine sand beaches, steep cliffs and secluded coves of great beauty. Jordon completed this mammoth event in a staggering 11 hours and 40 minutes which is an extraordinary effort! Well done on behalf of the Association.