“They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint”
Isaiah 40:31 rsv
Rodney Trevor Schokman
29.09.32 to 15.05.2001
It was in 1946 that I first met Rodney.- the school
was moving from its wartime abode to the present premises. For reasons unknown to me I was admitted to
the 7th standard. The class teacher Mr Weragoda introduced me as the
new boy and as I was the smallest in the class he made it a point to emphasise
that I was to be treated with respect and care. This introduction had a reverse
effect for I was immediately set upon for some good-natured ‘teasing’-and my
resecuer happened to a gangling ever smiling Rodney Schokman, who was nicknamed
DragonFly. Rodney was my protector and
our friendship developed, that
was to last for close to 45 years.
Others in class were George Robertson, Bryan Claesen, Neil Gallagher,
Arthlow Chapman to name a few.
Rodney had no hesitation to stand up to the
bullies and was always working for the underdog. He became a very effective and
powerful trade Union leader, and with his lovely wife Olive became a key member
of the CMU under the leadership of Bala Tampoe the great Union Leader,
Parliamentarian and Advocate. It was said that on all policy matters of this
Union, Olive and Rodney were consulted. Such was the respect that even now Bala
Tampoe is a personal and good friend of the Schokmans.
It could be said that a aquatic section of Wesley
College was first inaugurated at Mount Lavania beach when Wesleyites in hordes
arrived to watch the Wesley /St Thomas cricket. When things were going bad for
Wesley,time was spent in the sea and Rodney was our leader. Sometime later
swimming became more popular and again Rodney, although not proficient as a
swimmer participated in aquatics at
Kinross Swimming & Life Saving Club. . David Schokman and Trevor Ebert won
bronze medals for life saving – Gordon Amarasekera , Tissa Amarasinha, Vernon
and Chris Speldwewinde ,Earnest Algama were all proficient swimmers. Rodney was
a keen follower of KS &LS C. and
wanted to be a spear fisherman he teamed up with Gordon for forays into
the sea, but his visits to the Club became a little infrequent and we gathered
then that he had met, and , was enchanted by the beautiful Olive.
Rodney, “Kuiya” Herat, Tissa Amarasinghe were our
cheer leaders and as schoolboys I used to look forward to the sporting rivalry, songs and hilarious
antics by the Wesley Cheer Squad: and the Josephians led by the Aloysius Brothers-
Hubert , Dennis & Peter. Such sporting rivalry is sadly not seen in sport
today in any part of the world.
Rodney was a good and loyal friend, a staunch and
true Wesleyite and had bore no illwill
to anyone. Rodney used to look forward to occasions organised by the OBU and
sang the school song with great gusto and
pride. On the 15th of May 2001, Rodney passed away after a
brief illness.
A large congregation of family and friends gathered at St
David’s Anglican Church, Moorabbin to pay their last respects at a service
dedicated to the life of a dear family member and colleague.
The Pall-bearers at the grave side were all Old Boys of
Wesley, whilst a choir of Old Boys led the singing of the College song,
followed by the War Cry.
So Rodney went to his eternal rest with the full
blooded roar of “Zam Zam Zackie!!” from all his friends floating up to the
Heavens We have lost a great friend
and LOYAL Wesleyite.
To Olive and family you always will be a part of
the greater Wesley College, Colombo family in Melbourne.
Rest in Peace , Rodney.
AB
& GR
DOUBLE BLUES - IN
SPACE
STUDENT SIGNATURES
IN SPACE - WESLEY FLIES HIGH!
Wesley College in
Colombo, Sri Lanka makes history when it becomes the first Sri Lankan school to
fly its students' signatures into space!
Wesley College is
the first school from Sri Lanka to participate in the Student Signatures
in Space (S3) Program held annually to coincide with Space Day. Over a thousand
students and staff members of Wesley College signed the giant S3 poster in May,
before it was sent back to the United States in June. It is one of 19 schools
from 11 countries worldwide participating in the S3 program this year. The
other schools are from Australia (1), Belize (1), Canada (3), England (1),
Hungary (3), Japan (2), Poland (3), Puerto Rico (1), South Africa (1) and Wales
(2), together with over 400 elementary and high schools in the USA.
For Space Day 2001,
the signatures are flying on Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-108 mission to
the International Space Station, which was scheduled for launch on Thursday the
29th of November 2001 at 7.41 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). That would be
at 6.41 a.m. on Friday the 30th of November 2001 in Sri Lanka. This mission
marks the two millionth signature flown through the S3 program.
The launch of Space
Shuttle Endeavour was carried LIVE on NASA TV and leading television networks,
including CNN International (the Dynavision channel in Sri Lanka). LIVE
coverage was also available on the Internet at astronomy web sites such as http://www.space.com
A centerpiece to the
Space Day program is the Student Signatures in Space (S3) project, which gives
elementary and high school students the opportunity to send their personal
signatures into space. The S3 program is sponsored jointly by both NASA and
Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Participating
schools are sent giant posters for their students to sign on Space Day (held
each May), along with supporting educational materials and program memorabilia.
Participants return the posters to Lockheed Martin, and the posters are
individually photographed. NASA packages the negatives and includes them in the
manifest of a U.S. Space Shuttle mission. The mission selected for S3 is always
one that is launched in the fall of that year's project. This ensures that most
schools are in session during the mission, providing another great teaching
opportunity for educators from participating schools as the students follow
"their" mission.
When school resumes
in the fall, S3 participants receive ongoing emails of space-related lesson
plans and S3 mission status reports and teaching information. After the
mission, the posters are returned to the schools for display, along with an
official NASA certification verifying that the signatures flew in space, as
well as a photo of the crew that took the signatures up.
Schools are selected
for participation in a variety of ways. Many are selected by representatives
from Lockheed Martin companies throughout the world. These representatives
"sponsor" one or more of their local schools, often providing
additional Space Day activities to support the signature festivities. Sponsors
conduct such events as space trivia contests
and spelling bees,
field trips, guest speakers, poster and essay contests, hands-on displays,
space-related experiments and lesson plans, model rocket building and
launchings, and countless other events.
School names are
also often submitted by representatives from various NASA centers and
international space agencies, as well as representatives from the U.S. Congress
and Senate. Many schools hear about the project on their own and sign up by
contacting the S3 program coordinator directly..
S3 does not cost
schools anything to participate. Lockheed Martin Corporation pays for all costs
(including shipping both ways). Having
signatures flown on the Space Shuttle is a rare treat as space is extremely
limited on each mission.
MILLENIUM
CLUB
Last years Newsletter of March carried the story about the setting
up of the Fund and the October issue carried details with a donation form.
We have seven member donors todate from Australia, Harold
Matthysz, Trevor Collette, Nelson de Silva, Felix Berman, Ramon de Silva, Keith
de Kretser of Victoria and Ivan Wijetunge of Boondal, Queensland.
Extracts of last October’s article and a donor form are
reproduced below for your contribution.
MILLENNIUM FUND LAUNCHED IN COLOMBO
The aim of the “Millennium Club” was to raise Rs1,000,000
that would be invested as a Fixed Deposit in the bank and the interest
generated could then be used by The Principal in running the school.
Dr Louis Adhetty, in his speech at the 125th
Jubilee Dinner in March 1999, stated something along the following lines ..”surely a school like Wesley College with
such a long and colourful history should be able to find 200 old boys that can
donate Rs5,000 to set up a fund that would generate a handsome interest to help
the Principal with running the school”.
The equivalent of Rs5,000 in Australian Dollars would be
about $125. If you wish to donate more
that $125 it is up to you. You may wish
to make a donation in memory of a family member, teacher or classmate. The Wesley College (Colombo) OBU Australia
Branch invites YOU to make a contribution to this worthy cause. All donations will be acknowledged and a
receipt provided. Please make cheques
payable to the OBU Australia Branch and ensure they are crossed “not
negotiable”.
MILLENNIUM CLUB
DONATION
DONOR
NAME
ADDRESS
IN
MEMORY OF (if applicable)..................................................................................................................
AMOUNT
DONATED
WESLEY COLLEGE (COLOMBO) OLD BOYS’
UNION AUSTRALIA BRANCH INCORPORATED
|
Preliminary
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Pursuant
to Section 8 of the Constitution of the Wesley College (Colombo) Old Boys’
Union Australia Branch Inc., I, Trevor Collette, Secretary of the above
Association, hereby give notice of the Annual General Meeting for .2002.
1. Venue The BA Hall – Haughton Road
Clayton
(Melway Ref 79 B2
Date Sunday, 17 March 2002
Time 6.00pm
The meeting will be followed by
Dinner.
2.
Nomination
for the positions of President, Vice
President, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor and four General Committee positions
are called for on the attached form.
3.
Please
forward any motions to be tabled at the above Annual General Meeting in
writing. The motion should have a
Proposer and Seconder who should be financial member in 2001.
4.
All
duly completed nomination forms and motions should reach the Secretary by
Friday 15th
February 2002. Please address all
correspondence to The Secretary WCOBU Box 123, Glenway MDC, Mulgrave 3170.
Trevor
Collette
Secretary
|
NOMINATION FORMS
WESLEY
COLLEGE (COLOMBO) OLD BOYS’ UNION
AUSTRALIA
BRANCH INCORPORATED
Position .............................................................................
Name of Nominee ........................................................... Signature .........................
Proposer ........................................................... Signature .........................
Seconder ........................................................... Signature .........................
Date ………../…………/………..
NB
Only Members that are financial in 2001 can be nominated. The Proposer, Seconder and those eligible to
vote at the Annual General Meeting must be financial members in 2001.
Date received: ………./………./……….