Stories from past students of Daramalan
Some months ago, we included some of the stories and photos from the Daramalan Alumni Facebook page, with its lively editor and comments. It received a good number of hits. A good idea to add some more – and Daramalan is this year in its 60th year.
THIS IS JUST A SINGLE STOREY ABOUT AN ARCHITECT
Ex-Daramalan girl Jane Mackay (1990) has just been elected as the Australian Institute of Architects ACT chapter president. Now Jane Cassidy, she is a registered architect with GHDWoodhead, working on large-scale public infrastructure throughout Australia but still enthusiastic about good design in Canberra. Her impressive CV over the last 30 years is a real testament to her commitment and talent, which was no doubt inspired by her father John Mackay the Chairman of ACTEW for many years. Well done Jane.
DARA BOY MAKING HIS MARK AT SOUTH SYDNEY
A big congratulations to Mark Nicholls (2007) who yesterday was chosen as captain of the South Sydney Rabbitohs in this weekend’s NRL game against St George Illawarra (Sept 4th). Mark, who was a bit of a sporty kid at school, excelled in Cricket, Swimming, Athletics, Cross Country, AFL and represented the ACT in Rugby League. He was also the College Boys’ 2007 Aquathon Champion. (I’m exhausted just writing this story!)
He started his playing career with the Raiders in 2012, moving to Melbourne Storm in 2017, joining South Sydney in 2018. Scoring three tries this season and playing as Lock Forward, Mark will lead his team in Saturday’s game starting at 7.30pm. Well deserved Mark!
OUR GEORGIA HAS CERTAINLY ACHIEVED HER GOALS
Hopefully you got to watch the Matildas v Great Britain match at the Olympics last night with Australia winning controversially 4-3. I’ll ignore the incident (because we won) but it was all explained and analysed by Channel 7 Tokyo commentator Daramalan’s own Georgia Yeoman-Dale from 2011.
Georgia has played for a variety of clubs over the years including Canberra United, Newcastle and Sydney. She also debuted for Australia in 2012.
MICK'S ADDING A BIT OF COLOUR TO CANBERRA LIFE
With COVID becoming the new norm, it’s up to an ex-Dara boy to poke a bit of fun at how our lives have changed. Artist Mick Ashley (1987) has just released his 2022 calendar poking fun at the quirky side of the pandemic restrictions in Canberra from checking in with a rotary phone, to pets dressed in costumes by owners with too much time on their hands.
Mick said, "It's hard to get away from COVID-related issues, however it makes my creative life a little easier coming up with ideas and hopefully some cheer”. He finished by saying “a big call out to all the brave creatives out there who have been hurting, please keep going”. If you’d like to support Mick during these tough times, you can order a calendar from his website https://mickashley.com.au/product.../products/calendar/
The editor of the Daramalan alumni site confesses that there was an article about carving and sculpting and a pun for the heading was needed – but none woodwork.
PS. Another former Daramalan student sometimes appears in the news – aspects of sports!
