Kim Gray (CC1996) has very fond memories of her time at ‘Patto ‘, as the Cornish Campus of St Leonard’s was affectionately known at that time and our students were lucky enough to hear her speak at a recent assembly.
Kim currently works as the Wellbeing Lead at Melbourne Vixens and with the Victorian Institute of Sport Netball Development program. Her role with the Vixens is to support the athletes, coaches and staff and she always starts with understanding each person and what their values, goals and needs are. All people go through multiple transitions in their lives and Kim says that balance is crucial not only for athletes, but for everyone. As in sport, in life it is about knowing yourself, knowing what makes you tick, and what makes you happy. It is also very important to know what you need to pull yourself up again if the going gets tough. Her message of wellbeing and the need for balance in your life really resonated with all those at the assembly.
When Kim started at Cornish College in Year 5, the campus was only in its second year with just 111 students and she says the closeness of the community was a huge thing when she was there. “We knew everyone and you had friends from Prep to Year 8. I loved being at ‘Patto’, but appreciate it so much more now. The thought of having all of that open space to go to school every day, not to mention the menagerie of roaming animals, was just the best. I think the presence of Nikki the dog, Rastus the cat and the goat definitely calmed down many a wild Patto child”.
Kim says that one of the many highlight for her was Mr D’s end-of-year slide show, a tradition which has continued over the years.
Although life is very busy for everyone, she has managed to keep in touch with many former ‘Patto’ students. She made mention of past students Geordie and Hamish McMillan, Julianne Smith (now Raitelli), Robert McHaffie, Luke Shaw, Hayley Baker (Dymond), Anna (Gatt) and Alex Featherstone, Sam Tilley, Karli Robinson (Grinberg), and Renee Anquetil. Kim said that group of past students had also stayed in regular touch with Patrick White who sadly passed away in 2017.
She says it is also great to stay connected to Mr D, Mr Byrt and Ms Burke via Facebook and she would always have a special place in her heart for Patto.
