GIV Report: Term 1, 2022
GIV Whole School Assembly
On the 21st of March, Macrob held its very first GIV, now known as Guides In Volunteering, whole school assembly. Students filtered in from their Period 6 classes into the Gym and settled themselves around on the hardwood floor.
We began our section of the assembly with an introduction to our hardworking cabinet, during which Floof made an appearance! This led on to the slightly embarrassing but super energetic GIV song outlining our vision and role within the MacRob community.
Next we showcased how even the smallest actions, if done by several people in collaboration with each other, can lead to a much larger effect, through a Stadium Wave. We then proceeded to have each of our cabinet members take to the stage to showcase to the school what GIV entailed, through a variety of presentations and activities. We introduced the school to several of GIV’s initiatives, including both collaborative events such as the Poetry Book, the Art Donation, and Holi Festival, as well as other exclusively GIV events such as the Connect Competition, and Hampers for Humanity.
Finally, a 30 second challenge was given to the students to say a small and genuine compliment to the person sitting next to them. This encompassed how GIV could be applied to students’ everyday lives through small acts of kindness.
We’d like to once again thank you so much to all who attended the GIV assembly, we truly hope you enjoyed it!
Seni, Callista and the GIV Cabinet
Red Cross Holi Festival Fundraiser
Is Red Cross Calling gone? Well, yes and no! This year, the Australian Red Cross has decided to change up their school fundraising events. Their aim, and therefore ours too, is to bring the community back from covid through more internal connections. So rather than reaching out to random strangers on the street, we are reaching out to each other!
The event fundraised to the Red Cross this year was the student leadership team Holi Festival! (affectionately known as Holi). The Holi festival is a traditional cultural event predominantly celebrated in the Indian subcontinent but also in parts of Asia and the Western world. Mac.Rob is such a culturally diverse community, the smart and thoughtful house captains decided to tie Holi into Mac.Rob culture.
To align GIV’s Red Cross fundraising with the cultural aspect, we chose to fundraise to a specific cause known as The Bangladesh-Myanmar Crisis appeal. The 470,000+ that fled Myanmar in 2019 still live in crisis. Many rely entirely on aid to survive. With monsoon season, landslides & COVID case surges, pressure on health services is unbearable.
By donating, we make possible a safe place to sleep, healthcare, clean water and sanitation facilities, cash grants, protection against monsoon season. For more information about Red Cross Holi Festival, check out this doc created by our Year 11 execs!
So if you’re thinking: Are we breaking an age-old tradition? Let’s flip this question around and say… well maybe we’re making a new one! Together, we raised $882 for this worthy cause.
GIV, on behalf of Student Leadership Team
Melanoma March
On March 20th at 9:00am, two teams of Mac.Rob students participated in the Melbourne Melanoma March! It was a beautiful day of around 25 degrees at the Tan Track - a 3.827km track around the Botanic Gardens and the students enjoyed it immensely. Melanoma March is the Melanoma Institute Australia’s major annual fundraising campaign to support melanoma research. In each location, the March is a special event which brings together the whole melanoma community to raise awareness and funds for melanoma research.
“This was a really fun experience and I’m so glad I signed up and participated with my friends. On the day, it was really fun and entertaining as we walked a quarter of the way, went back, then finally completed the lap. After the walk, I felt super awake and I definitely recommend more people signing up for this!” - Emily J
“The Melanoma March was a really fun way to get together with friends and enjoy the very sunny weather. It also felt nice to be able to help those who are in need as I am very fortunate for the healthy life I was born with. I wish to participate in more events like this because it was a memorable time.” - Valencia H
“The Melanoma March was a great experience to be apart of. We walked in groups and it was a chill way to connect with your friends while supporting those that have melanoma. It felt great to be apart of a community that cared so much for others as if they were their own family. The walk wasn’t too strenuous and we walked in areas with different scenic views so their was always something to look at. This was a great opportunity that I’m truly thankful for.” - Rumaisa M
“At first, I was quite excited because I mean, I was going to hang out with friends while helping cancer research. The whole event was a little chaotic but really enjoyable. The walk itself was very warm and enjoyable. I'm so glad I got to make an impact like this and I hope I can sign up again in the future.” - Yeju L
Volunteering Opportunities
Volunteer your time to do something you love and with meaning.
Earlier this term, we opened up two new once-off volunteering opportunities that all students, staff, family members and alumni can complete at essentially any time (before the respective due dates). The cherry on top is that these align with your interests, whether that be something artistic or something poetic.
Why is GIV involved in these collabs? We really want you to see ways that volunteering can be fun and add HAPPINESS (part of GIV’s vision) to our lives. This may not be your conventional volunteering activity, but we want to show that all your small efforts can combine to make a big impact!
So please take some time these holidays to take care of yourselves, knowing that it’s helping others in some way.
GIV, Art Club, Secret Society of Writers
Art Club x GIV collab
The GIV x Art Club art donations drive is currently open to all students, staff, family members and alumni! All art submitted via this google form along the theme of “Fairy Tales” will be digitally sent to the Royal Children’s Hospital!
Artwork by the Art Club Captains, Wendy and Zen.
Secret Society of Writers x GIV Club Collab
The Secret Society of Writers x GIV poetry book submission is currently open to all students, staff, family members and alumni! All poetry submitted via this google form along the theme of “Fingerprints”: will be collated and published into a poetry book, which will then be advertised and sold to fundraise for charity (most like social service’s charity).
Message from the Secret Society of Writers Club:
Dear Reader,
The Secret Society of Writers (SSW) is Mac.Rob’s only club for writers, by writers. It is a space where Macrobbians can get together to share ideas and contribute to Mac.Rob’s literary scene. This year, SSW is delighted to collaborate with GIV on the Poetry Book Initiative. We hope the theme ‘fingerprints’ encourages students to reflect inwards, whilst celebrating the diversity of Mac.Rob’s established and emerging literary talent. Submissions for the GIV Poetry Book close in Term 2, Week 8. For more information, please see the “GIV Poetry Book Initiative'' document in Memo Mondays.
Yours sincerely,
The Caps+The Ghost Critics (Vivian Y, Jo Q, Pen W, GHOST1, GHOST2, GHOST3)
GIV Mascot Naming
It is said that Elephants are one of the most empathetic animals in the world, so with their big hearts and the nature of GIV, it’s a perfect match to have an Elephant as our mascot!
But what’s the point of such an adorable mascot without giving it a name? Well, we left such an important task up to our Year 9s to come up with as many names as they could and reasons why they think such a name would be appropriate. And after many weeks of voting and deliberation; the name of our loveable, cute and sweet mascot is… Floof!
The name Floof breaks down the stereotype that Elephants are bare and fantastically travels us back in time when their relatives, mammoths, used to roam the earth during the Ice Age era. Either way, there is no doubt that this is such an adorable name for our kind and compassionate Elephant, who represents the values of GIV!
We would just like to thank the Year 9s for their engagement and for every single submission we received! We thoroughly appreciated every single submission and found the creativity in each astounding. And thank you to all of you for voting for a name which we all love!
Amanda 11F, GIV reporter