11 December 2018

By Tate Papworth,

Teachers at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, Braybrook, have left a parting gift for the school’s students. A number of teachers met in secret over the past term and covered the school’s basketball court fence with hearts crocheted from different coloured yarn. The fence will soon be removed to make way for a new multi-purpose hall to be built next year.

Caroline Chisholm Catholic College learning support officer Maria Vella said the concept was designed to spread a positive message to students as they left their last assembly for the year. ‘One of our lead teachers thought of the idea after the musical we did earlier in the year which required some crochet work’, Ms Vella said.

‘We thought the idea of putting love hearts up shows our appreciation for all the hard work the students have put in over the year.’ Ms Vella said the teachers hoped the message would spread beyond the school’s grounds. ‘Each one has two hearts put together’, she added. ‘The idea is that the students take one and gift one to somebody else. So we show our love and appreciation, then they pay if forward to someone else.’

The crochet element also played a significant part. In a digital, fast-paced world, the teachers believe the act of making something by hand is the complete opposite – patient, slow, imperfect and rewarding.

This article was originally published in the Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly on 4 December 2018.