Have You Heard?

Recently, Alumnus Ben Yong and his family came to visit Ivanhoe for a tour of the school. Ben completed his education at Ivanhoe in 1985, and attended his 30 yr reunion in 2015. Ben and his family are living in Bangkok, but are planning a return to Australia in a few years’ time and Ben would very much like the next generation to attend at Ivanhoe. Whilst touring the school Ben also met up with his nephew Max Yong who is currently in year 12 at Ivanhoe. Ben’s father, Jim Yong, was an academic staff member at the school for 27 years, retiring at the end of 2000. (Pictured: Ben Yong with his family and nephew Max Yong)

What a #voice! Congratulations Ben Clark, Class of 2002. Your rendition of "Caruso" on the TV show The Voice last night was just beautiful. There may have been a few tears here this morning when we rewatched it! If you missed it, check out Ben's audition by clicking the link below and his interview afterwards using this link --> https://bit.ly/2qE81y5. We are not surprised all the judges wanted Ben on their team and the reaction of Ben's mum as things unfold is just priceless. #hismoment #sowonderful #thisboycan #leadtheway

Navneet Ganesh '07 has been selected as an Ambassador of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. The GC2018 Ambassador Program helps Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Coorporation (GOLDOC) to achieve its vision of staging a great Games in a great city leaving great memories and great benefits for all. It also aims to specifically address one of GOLDOC’s key objectives—to engage and harness the enthusiasm of our communities. Navneet took his excitement to LinkedIn posting 'Sport is a fantastic platform in connecting people & countries together. However these events are more than just about the sports - its the celebration of the best aspects of humanity: passion, grit, determination, courage and making dreams real. Just as athletes from all over the world come together to perform to the best of their abilities, as a society we must seek ways to work together to solve the planet's biggest issues and drive positive change - something I'm passionate about.'

After 14 years as CEO at The Wayside Chapel, Rev Long, wrote that our very own, Pastor Jon Owen (’93) a fearless, extraordinary and sometimes seemingly "crazy" man - would take over as CEO and pastor of the Wayside from July this year. Starting in 1964 by Reverend Ted Noffs, the Wayside Chapel is Australia’s best known provider of services for the homeless, the sad, the lonely, those suffering from addictions and mental illness - anyone who has fallen by the wayside of life. Jon (’93) was appointed unanimously as the Wayside’s new CEO and pastor by the non for profits board after an international search that canvassed more than 100 candidates. Rev Long first met Pastor Owen 15 years ago when he asked Long to show him the toughest places in Sydney.Pastor Owen was also determined to live there "on the same amount of money as someone who relied upon to the dole to exist" Rev Long wrote. "On the one hand, I was inspired by this fellow and on the other, I wondered if he was a bit crazy," said Long. "I repeatedly tried to make the point that to choose to live in any of these streets would demand a high cost, especially on their young kids. My warning seemed to encourage them which left me feeling wise, much older and not nearly as brave," said Long. Jon was also a recipient of the Oswald T Kyle Award in 2015, which is awarded to an Old Ivanhoe Grammarian, for Outstanding Community Service. Well done Jon we are so proud to see that you are upholding the Ivanhoe ethos of service to others.(Wayside Chapel leader Graham Long, left, with his successor Jon Owen)

It was great to see two full tables of our Old Ivanhoe Law Society back on Campus in Buckley Hall for the 2018 Principals Breakfast. Our special guest for the morning, author, journalist and broadcaster John Silvester (aka Sly of the Underworld) took the audience through the criminal events that have fascinated Melbournians since the early 20th century. John has 40 years of stories at his disposal and I dare say he only just scratched the surface in his time with us. However for those parents, staff, students, alumni and supporters of the school who attended, it was a history lesson, delivered in style.

Age is never a barrier to those who see a need and are able to create a way forward to fulfil that need. Back in 2015 OIG alum Heath Gilham ‘13 and a fellow University of Melbourne alum saw an opportunity to assist students in learning programing whilst they are still young and eager to learn. So they decided to create their own programming business, Coderspace. Coderspace offers a fun and interactive way of teaching children how to program through creating their own unique game. Coderspace guides children in Years 3-7 with little or no programing experience to create their own game over three days on the school holidays and one day per week during the term. Coderspace is also helping other Old Ivanhoe Grammarians as they proudly employ Harrison Wright ('16) Hugh Turner ('16) Will Boland ('16) Geoffrey Scarlett (’11) & Julian Bendeler (‘16) to help teach in their programing classes. Heath is giving these Old Ivanhoe Grammarians invaluable experience in problem solving, teaching, and public speaking as they bring on the next generation of coders!Not only developing the kids of the future, but also developing other Alumni!

OIG Alum and ANU Law graduate Camilla Pondel ‘11 (BMus LLB (Hons) ’16) will spend one year working as Assistant Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague after she was awarded the ANU College of Law PCA Scholarship for 2018. The award provides financial support to a current student or graduate of the ANU College of Law, to undertake a 12 month Fellowship with the PCA in The Hague, Netherlands. The role of Assistant Legal Counsel, means Camilla will have the opportunity to work alongside the PCA’s Secretariat and international arbitrators, assisting with arbitrations under PCA auspices.

Attention all coffee lovers! OIG Joey Katebian ’13 has recently opened his new coffee shop ‘Coffee Nerd’ Located in 111a High Street Preston. Serving the beautiful Code Black coffee beans, Joeys homely shop front is a perfect stop by for your morning/afternoon coffee on the go. Make sure you check it out. Open Mon - Fri 6am - 2pm / Sat 8:30am - 3:30pm.

OIG Lachlan Murphy ’16 has gotten some high praise from AFL legend Dermott Brereton for his first JLT community series match win over Fremantle over the weekend. The 5 time premiership player said he was highly impressed with Lachy’s game high 3 goal performance on SEN’s radio talk show KB and the Doc as Brereton stated “He had good pace, buzzed around, crumbed very well, and looked ready made for it. Watch out for this kid”. Lachy was selected by the crows with their second last pick in AFL rookie draft. Great effort Lachy.

From the Class of 1991, ‘The Tie is Thicker Than Blood Club (TTITTBC)’ caught up for their annual reunion get together, and with it being the 25th year in a row the boys thought they would do something a bit different this time around. So all 19 boys flew over to the Adelaide Test. However, they thought they would spice things up by all dressing up as past AFL star Warrick Capper and they even paid for Warrick Capper himself to be there with them! The boys had a day out to remember, as they were seen all over social media and also made Adelaide Advertiser (Adelaide newspaper) the following day. Great effort fellas.

You may have seen a familiar face on your television screens recently! Our very own Lana Murphy '10 has recently started working as a video journalist at Nine News Melbourne. Lana's work consists of morning and afternoon updates as well as the flagship 6pm news bulletin, From crime to medical, colour and human interest stories, Lana covers the lot. Lana has also been nominated for both a Quill and a Walkley Award and has already won various PANPA and VCPA awards in print and photography.

Some would say that Geoff Toone (’86) is “living the dream”. During 2017, Geoff was appointed to the position of CEO and Managing Director of the National Bank of Vanuatu. And even though Geoff now lives some 4,000 km away, Ivanhoe Grammar is still top of mind. He recently contacted the School to enquire whether any young alumni might be interested in a short term assignment with the bank – working with Geoff on projects like the bank’s internet profile or their microfinance offering. And of course, there might be a little time to take in some of the sights! If you are interested, please email the Alumni Office at [email protected] and we will forward your details to Geoff.

The remarkable young talent David Purser has been extremely busy since graduating from Ivanhoe Grammar in 2010. David has recently completed his tertiary studies at RMIT University, where he graduated with a double degree and first class honors in Aerospace Engineering (honors) and Business Management. David is even featured on RMIT’s website under the “notable student” section. During David’s studies he spent 7 months in Germany working at Airbus Defence and Space on the final assembly line of the 5th generation fighter jet, the Eurofighter Typhoon. David also competed in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition in Texas. You can read about the award winning design that he contributed to here (www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2016/march/rmit-engineers-awarded-revolutionary-travel-pod) Currently David’s talents are shared between two companies, Scan-Xpress and Amaero Engineering. At Scan-Xpress David completes highly accurate 3D scans of engineering components for quality control purposes and at Amaero he operates metal 3D printers to manufacture parts for the defence and aerospace industries. David was recently interviewed by the Melbourne Innovation Centre about his position at Scan-Xpress which can be viewed bellow.

During the two weeks of the Australian Open you may have realised the new innovative court furniture that was on display. That was the masterpiece of the very clever old boy Benjamin Hunt ’89! After graduating Ivanhoe Grammar School Ben went on to complete a Bachelor of Industrial Design at RMIT and has been managing director/owner of Synergy Australasia, an exhibition and retail design and manufacturing company, for nearly 20 years. Ben’s most recent achievement, the amazing new court furniture at the 2018 Australian Open. The video was filmed by Tennis Australia as part of their promotional package which shows Ben and his team behind the scenes of their creations. Make sure you give it a watch by clicking the link bellow. Well done Ben!

Some familiar faces from the Old Ivanhoe Captain's Lunch held on Wednesday (09/02/18) following the 2018's School Captain's Induction assembly. We had such an incredible turnout with 45 of our past Alumni Captains & Vice Captains in attendance, with the eldest Alumni Captain in attendance being Graham Hawke ('1944). We are most grateful to those who traveled from interstate for this special event - the strong sense of connection and belonging is live and well within our community. The OIGA would like to wish the 2018 Captains well for their final year, and look forward to welcoming them and their peers into the alumni network in 2019.

A huge congratulations to Claire Waterman '00 for being acknowledged with a Public Service Medal for her outstanding public service to family violence system reforms. This becoming quite routine for Claire as in 2016 Claire was also awarded An Australian Council of Women in Policing Award (ACWAP) being the Highly Commended in the Excellence in Policing Category. Well done Claire, this is a great honour and a testament to all your hard work in creating a safer Victoria.

Congratulations to Suresh Senathirajah ’85 who has been appointed as a Senior Counsel of the Victorian Bar by the Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court. This is a considerable achievement as all candidates for appointment are rigorously assessed, not just by their peers and senior colleagues but also by the judiciary as proven leaders in their areas of legal practice. Well done Suresh.

In early 2017 Peter was chosen as the live director for “Lost in London”, the world’s first live feature film, written, directed and staring Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson and also featuring other Hollywood heavyweights Willie Nelson and Owen Wilson. Lost in London made film history as it is the first movie to be shot in one continuous single camera shot and broadcasted live into cinemas with no post production or pre-recording. The audience comprised 550 packed cinemas in the USA and one UK cinema in London. Peter’s role as live director was to coordinate the various elements needed to transform the single camera shot and performed dialogue into a seamless live cinema event indistinguishable from a regular feature film. In addition to Peter’s main role, he was also employed to shoot behind the scenes; capturing the trials and tribulations of the many rehearsals, script reads, meetings and the technical facilities required to create the live movie. We are very proud of Peter for his major contribution in the world first “Lost in London’ and wish him the same success in all of his future endeavours. Lost in London will be available on iTunes in 2018. Pictured: Hollywood star Woody Harrelson & Peter (right) The behind the scenes video Peter shot and directed can be viewed by clicking below

Old Ivanhoe Water polo Grand final day was a hoot! Our Men’s team won 12-7, and our Women’s put up a serious fight but lost 3-9. This is a game that requires a unique type of fitness and strategy and we couldn’t be prouder of all the alumni who played on GF day and throughout the season. Special thankyou to Troy Rosenlis ‘04 and Lauren Chan ‘07, you are true leaders who are developing a dynamic, supportive, fun and social Club, congratulations to you both and all the Club members. Bring on 2018!

Old Ivanhoe Grammarians Football Club is excited to announce that it will be entering a Women’s team in the VAFA for the 2018 season. Currently the VAFA runs a competition with 40+ teams over 5 divisions. The season commences in April and concludes in August, with the 1st 4 rounds being grading games to ensure that the competition is fair and equal. We are seeking women over the age of 16 to join this exciting new era of OIGFC football in 2018. There will be further announcements, but we are in the process of seeking candidates for all positions including coach, in the coming weeks.Contact can be done via Facebook or email: [email protected] or calling: 0448 844 780

Great to hear that all those years hanging out at The Ridge have not been wasted on George and Christian – they have just started a new ice creamery called Wally & Fletcher in Burgundy Street, Heidelberg. A perfect place to visit on these hot summer days – and your pretty certain to see a few Ivanhoe alumni there, on both sides of the counter!

As if attending College in the US isn’t exciting enough, Kehley Bitzas was recently named Defensive Player of the Week in her College league. Kehley completed her secondary schooling at Plenty Campus in 2015 and now attends Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. This is the second time Kehley has been named the top defensive player this season. Her most recent honour came as a result of Kehley’s 13 brilliant saves during 200 minutes of play as her team, the Wildcats, tied with Missouri Valley 1-1 and defeated Baker 2-1.

With the entry of Japan into the Second World War and the threat of invasion in Australia growing, it became apparent that boarding schools should move away from the larger cities for the children’s safety. As the war effort became more pressing armed services began looking for more accommodation for the various different divisions and branches it serviced. This lead to negotiations between Ivanhoe Grammar School and the Army authorities in lending the school grounds to the military and moving the school to the country town of Yea, 70 miles out of Melbourne. Life in Yea was different to what the kids were used to, a mixture of class room work and outdoor activities. Life in Yea for students was centred around the Bike and the outdoors. They fished, they swam, caught rabbits with ferrets, went on cross country runs and even made friends with the farmers and their families! In spite of its difficulties, the majority of the boys enjoyed their time at Yea and look back with very fond memories. The army authorities occupied Ivanhoe Grammar School’s premises for two years, with various different military units using the School grounds. However, the longest and last occupants were the Women’s Signalling School. During their occupancy the iconic North Ground became a collection of women dormitories. Ivanhoe Grammar remained at Yea for two years of the war 1942 & 1943 until the danger of invasion passed.

Eilish has a voice that has been described as “beautiful, and melancholy, and inventive, and excellent” - no wonder she is in the running for the #Hottest100 on Triple J. For those on the East Coast, you will have the opportunity to see Eilish live when she tours with Woodes, performing in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane during March 2018.