CGS FOUNDATION NEWS

CELEBRATION OF GIVING

In May, we had the pleasure of acknowledging the extraordinary generosity of our CGS Foundation donors at the annual CGS Celebration of Giving. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the generous support and express our gratitude for our donors’ contributions. It was also an opportunity to launch The Centenary Project – Towards 2029 and outline an ambitious philanthropic goal as we journey towards the School’s 100th birthday in 2029.

Held in the Snow Centre, Dr Garrick, Head of School, and James Willson, Foundation Board Deputy Chair, provided development updates, progress reports and words of thanks to those who have an ongoing impact on CGS. There were also opportunities to tour the School and take a sneak peek into the long-awaited auditorium building site. However, the highlight of the evening was inspirational presentations from CGS Indigenous Scholarship Graduate Marle Ashby, 2020 alumna and current CGS Indigenous Scholar Kouper Miles. Marle and Kouper perfectly articulated the impact a scholarship can have on a young person’s life and the lifechanging opportunities and future aspirations they can give.

THE CENTENARY PROJECT TOWARDS 2029

Canberra Grammar School was founded in 1929 to educate the children of the then young capital of an ancient country. We have a profound and on-going commitment to ensure that our School always plays its part in the education of generations who will create a just and equitable future for all Australians.

As our 100th anniversary approaches, we are delighted to announce the CGS Centenary Project. Our goal, to coincide with our centenary in 2029, is to grow the cumulative total of the CGS Foundation to $20.29 million (including distributions) to make possible the next stages of our campus development and scholarship plans. The Centenary Project’s purpose is underpinned by our aspiration to provide unparalleled excellence and opportunity, and our vision is to see 100 students educated at CGS on Indigenous and equity scholarships, in addition to our current scholars, by the time we reach our 100th year. Along with our campus development programme, it is an ambitious target, but we have shown what we can do when we have a goal and set our mind to it.

We have done much in the past few years, for which we can be proud, even with the pandemic in between. Yet, there is much more to do. We have seven years left to raise the remaining funds to meet our target.

JOIN OUR CENTENARY COMMUNITY FOR THE PRICE OF A COFFEE A WEEK

We warmly invite you to join our CGS Centenary Community and commit to giving $2,000 over the next seven years (with the first 900 commitments of $2000 or more acknowledged by a plaque on a seat in our new concert hall). A pledge of $25 a month (about a coffee a week) or $300 a year over the seven years until our centenary is just over $2,000.

If 1,000 families, or half of the families now in the School, make that commitment, it equates to $2 million, or around 70 full annual tuition fees for Indigenous or equity scholarships in today’s dollars – for the equivalent of a coffee per family a week.

If 100 members of our community become Centenary Partners in pledging $20,000 over the next seven years, that’s a further $2 million. Should 10 from our community become Centenary Benefactors, pledging $200,000 to the CGS Foundation in the years towards 2029, that’s another $2 million. And should one become Centenary Patron by matching the other tiers with an extraordinary gift of $2 million, then we meet our goal, funding the full education of dozens of bright young students on Indigenous, equity and other scholarships, and underpinning the next stage of our campus evolution.

What an extraordinary outcome that would be, and what a thing to celebrate at our centenary, a school proudly leading in opening access to its excellence for bright, capable, motived young Australians, who will use the opportunities and education to build the future that all our children deserve.

– Tammy Foley, Alumni & Philanthropy Manager

ON BEHALF OF OUR STUDENTS AND THE GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS TO COME, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT & THE OPPORTUNITIES YOU ENABLE US TO PROVIDE

Kouper Miles is a Year 10 Indigenous Scholar at CGS. He proudly and candidly spoke of his experience in being selected and joining the Indigenous scholarship programme at the CGS Annual Celebration of Giving event. Below is an excerpt from his speech.

KOUPER MILES

INDIGENOUS SCHOLAR

Yulma my name is Kouper Miles. I’m in Year 10 and I’m 15 years old. I’m from Yuin nation and part of the Walbanja tribe. I grew up on the south coast of NSW in a small rural town near Batemans Bay. I’ve had a pretty interesting childhood with being connected to the country by going camping out in the bush with family and going back to culture and beliefs. We would sit around the fire, throw down a swag and go fishing and swimming in water holes.

The idea of moving to Canberra Grammar came to me through my family and I embraced it with the intention of pursuing the application of the scholarship. I knew that the opportunity of receiving the scholarship would help guide me in the right direction in life and could also be life changing. I informed some of my teachers who supported me and pushed me at school and they told me to take the opportunity and make the most of it. When it came to applying, my dad wasn’t too keen on the idea of me moving away from home and thought I wasn’t responsible enough.

He wanted me to wait another year but still said to apply for the scholarship for Year 10 and see what happened. One of the main reasons I had pushed to come to Canberra Grammar School in Year 10 was because I knew that going into a new school and experiencing boarding for the first time in my final 2 years of schooling would be extremely difficult. I didn’t want the added pressure of settling in to affect my grades, thus I pushed to go in Year 10. After finding out that I was shortlisted for the scholarship, we couldn’t meet face to face so I had an online zoom meeting with Mr McNiell (Head of Indigenous Programme) and Mr Brown (Head of Boys’ Boarding). During the meeting we discussed the school’s expectations of the scholarship students and what is expected of them in boarding. After finding out about getting the scholarship we had an on school campus orientation. As part of the scholarship I have been provided with a full school uniform, a laptop, access to the cultural programme and full boarding fees.

My personal goals for the future are to go on to university and undertake a bachelor in law and follow in my mum’s footsteps and work at the (Aboriginal legal service). I want to focus on family law and push for more Aboriginal laws around families and households. My other goal for my future is to trial for a soccer academy over in England. I strongly believe that coming to Canberra Grammar School and living in Canberra has made it a lot easier with me being noticed by soccer scouts.

When I first arrived at Canberra Grammar School I didn’t know what to expect with classes and what the teachers would be like. At my old school teachers didn’t really care and classes were extremely loud and I found it hard to work in. I remember walking into my first class and everyone was sitting silently listening to the teacher and actually engaged with what was going on around them. This was a wonderful thing to see and I have gained so much from this school already. Another advantage to being at such a wonderful school is the fact that teachers care for their students and are willing to individually help the ones falling behind, which is great to see.

This was such a contrast compared to my old school where teachers would go through the curriculum as quickly as possible and not care too much if students were falling behind.

The first 5 weeks of boarding school was fine as it wasn’t too stressful with school workload and sport. I started to realise that I was missing home more, so I was allowed to go home for a weekend to try to regroup my thoughts. This worked and at the start of the school holidays I mentioned to mum that I actually missed boarding and wanted to go back.

To conclude, this opportunity given to me by the Indigenous scholarship has truly changed my life already and I am grateful for this wonderful experience.

SHARE IN THE CENTENARY PROJECT

We warmly invite you to share with us in The Centenary Project in whatever way you may, and to help us share it with our community; to explain our aspirations and the purpose of the project and the CGS Foundation to all whom you know can help. We look forward to what lies ahead of 2029, and well beyond. To learn more or to donate, please visit:

CGSFOUNDATION.ORG.AU

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS

Membership of the CGS Foundation provides an opportunity for our supporters to formalise their relationship with the School and engage with our students, staff and alumni. They join a distinguished and like-minded network of supporters who share our vision and aspiration that our students will become curious, creative, confident and compassionate citizens of the world.

GIVING IN 2022

Ben Ashman Simonetta Astolfi Nicholas Barnier Luke and Linda Bibby Bruce Billson Duncan and Danielle Blake Paul Burt Stephen Byron Bobbi and Steven Campbell Charles Warman Foundation Pty Ltd Belinda Clark Simon Crafter John and Alison de la Torre Julie Davies Claire Dawson Primal De Silva Tim and Mary Efkarpidis David Evans Tammy Foley Mathew and Cassandra Fox John and Jenelle Frewen Justin Garrick William and Kirsten Garwood Sandy Goddard Matthew Gollings and Cynthia Dimond John Granger Andrew and Annabel Griffin Angelique Gross Rachel Gurney Brian Hall Erum Hamza Steven Harrison Tim Harrison Roderick Jewell David Kenyon Mark Keogh Soomi Kim and Wai Voon Malcolm Lamb Ron Levy Karyn Lim Bill Maude John and Felicity Maxwell Tony May Dimitri Nikias David Olsson Kaita Pau Kent Peters James Pushack Ravi Ravishanker Richard Refshauge Steve Robson Kerri Rock James Sainty Jane Seaborn Robert and Fiona Snow The Snow Foundation Troy Steinman Melinda Swane Maria Fe Tansey Fred Taylor Vikki Templeman David Tonuri David Tridgell Judy Turbayne Dino Vido Denita Wawn Sean and Alicia Welsh Christina Weston Sam and Heather Whittle James Willson Anne Witheford Anonymous Donors (9)

Donor details are listed as entered at time of donation. If you believe you have been omitted from this list, we apologise. Please contact us at: foundation@cgs.act.edu.au

BENEFACTORS

Naren Chellappah Susan & Ken Cooper (CGS 1961) Georgina & David Gazard Peter Hazlehurst (CGS 1990) CGS Old Boys’ Association Kenyon Foundation The Podmore Foundation Anonymous (2)

FELLOWS

Wendy & Vivian King Dharini Ganesan Raju & Justin Garrick Anonymous (1)

MEMBERS

Ben Ashman Hermina & Daryl Blaxland Stephen Byron (CGS 1987) Alan Carey (CGS 1977) & Family Louise Clegg & Angus Taylor Tim Efkarpidis Jillian & Stephen Goggs Rusul & Ali Hameed Tim Harrison (CGS 1968) Romil Jain & Deepa Singhal Suzanne & David Prowse (CGS 1965) Irwin Prowse (CGS 1933) Thea De Salis Justin Dundas-Smith Carolyn Hawkins & Desmond Yip James Kilmartin (CGS 1989) Robert Mark Graham Matthews Helen & Simon McCredie Dennis Milin Janny & Hugh Poate Stephen Robson Justine & Andrew Redwin Melissa & John Russell Lynne & Tony Tonks Dino Vido Heather & Samuel Whittle James Willson Anonymous (3)

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Paul Burt John de la Torre Jane & Andrew Dimoff David Evans & Rosemary Landy Malcolm Lamb William Maude Geoffrey Mauldon (CGS 1943) Dimitri Nikias (1981) Kent Peters Ravi Ravishanker Kerri Rock David Tridgell Judy Turbayne Canberra Embassy of the State of Qatar

T +61 (2) 6260 9700 E communications@cgs.act.edu.au

40 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill ACT 2603

CGS.ACT.EDU.AU