The purpose of the Parents & Friends Association is to connect the Melbourne High community for the benefit of the school students and we are no stranger to running working bees at the Millgrove site. However, last Sunday marked another fantastic occasion, as the P&F—together with 52 registered members of the school community and staff—returned to the Forrest Hill campus for a day of service and camaraderie. Led by Angelique Drew and supported by members of the P&F committee, a group of dedicated parents, students, and staff rolled up their sleeves and braved over four hours of Melbourne’s famously unpredictable weather. We are delighted to report that together, we achieved the following:
- Cleaned and repainted areas around the Woodfull-Miller oval, including the Forrest Hill retaining wall, bench seats, and the footy interchange benches, all in MHS maroon and green colour.
- Beautified the garden space on the slope near the A-Building, transforming it into a welcoming, quiet retreat.
- Tidied up outside Cadets Headquarters pavilion.
- Raked and removed dead leaves along the Yarra Street fence line.
- Wheel barrelled and topped up mulch in various garden beds around the A-Building and Hockey Pavilion.
Volunteers scrubbed school equipment, hauled rubbish, got paint on their clothes – and did it all with enthusiasm and teamwork, to help make MHS an even better place to learn and grow. After hours of hard work, Angelique and Karen Kiang treated all volunteers to a delicious sausage sizzle lunch, followed by desserts generously from The Cheesecake Factory. Everybody enjoyed their well-earned break in the Middleton Room, soaking in (sunny) city views from the tower balcony. It was a joy to see new connections forming across the community – and we were even joined by a couple of parents of Old Boys as well as a brave, faithful Blues supporter. During our break, Dr. Mordini shared that MHS is the oldest public secondary school in Victoria, and that our involvement in such a historic institution is truly special. We couldn’t agree more with that sentiment.
Special Acknowledgements
A heartfelt thank you to Angelique Drew for her leadership in organising this major event, and to the MHS staff who supported the day, including Dr Tony Mordini, Mr Rob Sette, Mr Chris Wyatt, Mr Peter Drew and Mr Sam Owen. Your presence and help were greatly appreciated.
Above all, our deepest thanks go to the students and parents who gave up their Sunday to support the school. Your energy, commitment, and ever-present smiles turned hard work into a shared success.
To illustrate the incredible dedication of our parents, two volunteers stayed behind even after everyone had packed up, determined to finish the job at the footy interchange bench. Not only did they complete the task successfully, but they also took the initiative to paint the wooden bollards along the way back – going above and beyond in true MHS fashion to “Honour the Work”.
We look forward to welcoming more of our MHS community at our next Working Bee, which will take place at Millgrove later this year.
Warm regards,
David Chow – President, P&FA
Ken Ihara – Vice President, P&FA
