St George Sutherland Community College, located in Sydney’s southern suburbs, celebrated its 40th year, in an event at Cronulla on 6 February 2019.
The day’s events included an inspiring speech by College CEO, Patricia Carroll, who said that, “One thing that has remained constant throughout the college journey is that entrepreneurship was balanced with heart and our vision has always been to enrich lives.”
Ms Carroll continued:
“Since its small beginnings, supporting peoples with wide variety of disability services has been the core.
“The college journey started at my kitchen table, surrounded by nappies and baby food.
“With the knowledge that I knew my daughter (Erin, who has Down Syndrome) would face serious limitations once her school years came to an end, I wanted to offer her the best future possible.
“The dream was to have a place where people with disability could further their education, and to create a college where people with a disability could access, post-school education.”
A number of mayors and Members of Parliament attended the event, including Heathcote MP Lee Evans, Sutherland Council Mayor Carmelo Pesce, Miranda MP Eleni Petinos and Barton (former Canterbury) MP Linda Burney. A highlight of the event was a special video message from the Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison (MP for Cook).
Community Colleges Australia (CCA) was represented by its CEO, Dr Don Perlgut. Former Principal of City East Community College, Peter Reilly, and former Head of Training for the Deaf Society, John O’Neill, also attended. Training Services NSW sent a number of representatives, as did a number of community, government and local business organisations.
The event also launched Patricia Carroll’s book, From Dream to Reality: Enriching Lives for 40 Years, a personal reflection on the college.