A fond farwell to Michele Hay

By Micaela Beeck

Year 12 boarder

At the end of Term 1 2021, the boarding community said goodbye to their muchloved Head of Boarding, Michele Hay, who had been with the College for 19 years.

Along with many of the Year 12s, I had known Ms Hay for over six years – so, to celebrate her retirement with her was both a very special and very sad event to be part of. Ms Hay had a positive impact in so many ways in her role as Head of Boarding and was such an integral part of so many boarding families lives - we just couldn’t begin to thank her enough, when it came for her time to leave us.

On Wednesday, 31 March, Ms Hay requested a ‘last’ dinner’ with the boarding girls along with some special guests who had contributed to the boarding community and to the longstanding history of Michele Hay. We celebrated Ms Hay’s time at Penrhos College and shared some laughs, as we shared and remembered some of her many quirky and funny moments in the Boarding House. Thank you to the generous boarding community and alumni who donated towards an incredible gift for Ms Hay. Thanks to their wonderful generosity, I was able to privately commission a papercut artwork by Albany artist, Sue Codee.

To make sure our commission reflected Michele Hay’s character, I asked all the boarding girls what reminds them of Ms Hay. Responses included her love of snails, Japanese peonies, taking the girls shopping and her famous ‘hip hip hooray’ cheer. The custom artwork incorporated all these elements and many more. They remind us of Michele and we were so pleased we could create such a beautiful piece.

Along with this magnificent piece of bespoke artwork, created with our love and affection, Michele received a magnolia teddy bear tree with cut-out wood leaves for hanging on the tree, each leaf featuring a personalised message from the current boarders. We also organised a lovely bouquet of flowers and some gift vouchers to her favourite store - Bunnings Warehouse!

Through the course of the evening, we heard tributes from many different people about how Ms Hay has affected their lives, including former Principal Meg Melville, who told of their fun adventures together in Europe as school colleagues. It was lovely to hear all kinds of stories about Ms Hay over the years, from people who knew her in different capacities, and it was also very moving to learn more about her incredible influence during her time at Penrhos.

Ms Hay organised a dessert bar for us to enjoy, which was definitely a hit amongst the girls - we finished the evening with shared sweet treats and a delicious chocolate strawberry and cream cake made by the chefs. We all felt so privileged to share in Ms Hay’s ‘last dinner’ and we felt it was the perfect way to recognise and commemorate her contribution to both the College and the boarding community.