Good old fashioned country values and a bush upbringing are credited with propelling some of our shire’s finest to the top of the ranks at the prestigious private schools of St Ignatius College Riverview and Frensham Girls College, Bowral.
Jack O’Connor, the son of Stephanie and John of ‘Yarrawonga’ Harden and Ben Lenehan, the son of Bill and Catia of ‘Inverlochie’ Harden, have been elected Captain and Vice-Captain, respectively, of St Ignatius for 2010. Rosie Fairfield Smith, daughter of Cameron and Vicki of Arbores, has been selected as Head Girl of the Frensham Girls College in Bowral.
Jack being the Head Boy at St Ignatius is even more special as he is the first country based student who has been elected to the position for the past 27 years, and together with Ben as Vice Captain is the first time in the Colleges 130 year history that both a Captain and Vice Captain have not been city based.
Jack’s schooling started at Sacred Heart in Cootamundra where he attended until year 6, Ben attended the Jugiong Public School whilst Rosie attended the Murrumburrah Public School then the Murrumburrah High School until year 8 and all are live-in boarders at their respective schools.
Their schools are a world away from the local schools, particularly in numbers with around 1600 boys attending St Ignatius and 300 attending Frensham.
Both Jack and Rosie said that whilst they might have been a bit homesick initially, they soon found ways to keep themselves busy with the many activities on offer.
Jack and Ben (who was also named Boarding Captain) play in the school’s First XV Rugby side and Jack plays in the Second XV.
Jack and Rosie as captains act as a voice for their fellow students and play a big role in promoting the school spirit.
Jack has been involved with a number of fundraisers, including this year when he raised money for Movember. There are hair restrictions at St Ignatius that mean students are not allowed to grow a mo, but Jack found a clever solution purchasing 1200 fake moustaches for $200 which were then sold for $3 each. In all they raised $2500 for the cause.
Both Jack and Rosie are not sure what they will do when they finish next year, but a gap year trip overseas could be on the cards.
Jack is hoping to attend university in Sydney studying Physiotherapy and/or Ag Economics whilst Rosie is looking to study at University in either a science or medical field in pathology or dentistry or perhaps complete a business degree to one day operate her own business.
One thing they do both agree on is the fact that they would both like to settle back in Harden one day. They say they couldn’t imagine bringing up their own families anywhere else but the same place that gave them such a great start to life.
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