Miss and Mr Congeniality Pageant.

College Confidential “A New Dawn”
Dearest College House
This will be the last newsletter for the term which has been full of soccer, cricket,
community service and leadership surprises (for both teachers and students).
This edition caters to our children in that it is particularly visual. I will pretend that this
choice was intentional but I, like many of our Matric teachers, have 100 Grade 12 essays
to mark and my thoughts are elsewhere.
As always, we have much to be thankful for and celebrate.
Let’s begin then …
Miss and Mr Congeniality Pageant.
The night was filled with lots of laughs, cheers and glamour! Congratulations to the
following winners:
3rd place: Lulu Dlamini (College House) and Jadon Sussman
2nd place: Laura Pakendorf and Tyran De Vos
Miss Congeniality 2015: Vumi Dludlu (College House)
Mr Congeniality 2015: Matthew Ives
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Kiran Coetzee may not
be in our house but we
congratulate him on the
launch of his book
(about teenagers) at the
Cansa Tea party
Lolly Ogg
(College House)
and Kate James
completed the
Skukuza half
marathon and
they were not
even chased by
wild animals in
order to do it.
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The geographers
experienced their
subject as they should
and headed off on the
Panorama Tour. We do
not do this often enough
ourselves, I think.
They had fun observing
their subject “live” and
for once they saw
potholes we like.
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The group of about 30 runners has generally
been committed to the activity. We offer a
variety of routes off-campus in order to alleviate
the boredom of The Beat. They do like this
variety and are energised in another
environment. We are pushing everyone (even
those struggling to get fit at the back) to go
further and get fitter.
They’re more inspired, however, when there is a
rainbow on our run. We’re running to find the
pot at the end of it. Wish us luck.
Our new mentors – yaaaaaaaaay!
Cindy Armstrong
Steph Watson
Lulu Dlamini
Lauren Ogg
(in absentia)
Tebatso Duba
Xiluva Nxumalo
Ash Addison
Shauna Drysdale
Robyn Forte
(in absentia)
Lisa Thomson
Jared Adams
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Grade 11 personal growth course:
Performance Booster, tweaked into a teen version in a weekend course has been very
successful for those who did it (2 more courses to come). To date we have trained 25 +
…. It is a massive -weekend commitment for everyone involved. The best thing about it
is it goes beyond the usual goals and strategies and ties in with our vision and mission of
Uplands perfectly.
Feedback from the children was: “I loved it. It can help me soo much; it came at the
right time; I now know what integrity really means and what I need to do…being positive
is key… …we can only rely on ourselves for our success…it is important to think the right
thoughts…. It is a bonus that I can use it as an LO portfolio certificate”.
And from a parent “I want to thank you for the past weekend’s course. My son came
home so inspired and went through the whole book with us explaining in detail what it
was all about! I have never seen him so animated and exciting about something that has
nothing to do with sport!”
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Our vision and Mission
Vision (Purpose)
“Uplands seeks to nurture young people to become self-confident, happy and successful
in a changing world. They will be creative, critical thinkers who embrace change and
develop lasting, healthy relationships.”
Mission (How)
“The school employs quality staff who provide a dynamic, caring, values- based
education through meaningful interaction. Parental support and excellent facilities are
cornerstones of our success, as we grow a world-class forward-thinking school.”
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Community Service
Snap shots of a few projects this term:
Smile – Uplands students teaching basic English to Grade 4s
from Maqamela
A twist on Mandela Day 67 minutes in our compulsory Saturday
Josh Birch and his crew had a project for Zikodze high school.
The group, together with outreach raised fund to buy the school
a photocopier.
Interact made puppets for their project.
Pro-life visits continue and some children get much affirmation
from loving the animals there. Check your children’s pockets for
puppies when they get home. Too cute to resist.
Wanted: an old, workable cell phone for one of the
groundsman, whose phone does not work anymore. If you have
one please, drop off at front office for attention Sharon van
Reenen.
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Breaking news:
Emma v.d. Meulen has been selected to go to Vietnam to hand
over the declaration you signed.
Message from her sponsors…
Congratulations! Emma van der Meulen has been selected to represent Project Rhino
KZN and South Africa as a Youth Rhino Ambassador at the Operation Game Change
culmination week in Vietnam.
Filling the 3 remaining places for the Operation Game Change visit to Vietnam was an
extremely difficult decision for the OGC selection committee, as all 9 Youth Rhino
Ambassador applications were outstanding and deserving of the honour: we wish we
could send everyone.
Emma will be joining Jacome Pretorius (Glenwood House, Western Cape), Jared Robinson
(Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg), Phelisa Matyolo (youth leader of the Lesedi
Cultural Dance) and Nadav Ossendryver (youth founder of the award-winning
LatestSightings.com platform) to present the WORLD YOUTH WILDLIFE DECLARATION to
government leaders of Asian countries that are driving the illegal poaching of rhino and
other endangered species, as well as visiting schools in Hanoi to interact with
Vietnamese youth and spread a youth-orientated rhino conservation message.
A bit about Emma …
Emma is passionate and determined to make a difference in curbing the slaughter of
rhinos in South Africa. Living in Graskop, which borders the Kruger National Park, she
feels close to the crisis and in the direct path of intervention on behalf of these beautiful,
threatened creatures.
(Image 1: back row 2nd on left - Emma at a rhino rescue after bullet wound; Image 2:
Emma injecting antibiotic; Image 3: Emma 1st left at Rhino Summit, 2014)
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Emma has been a member of the in the Uplands Enviro Club since Grade 8. She is now
in Grade 11. She has assisted in raising R10 682 in 2011 and a further R5000 in 2012.
These funds were ear-marked for rhino conservation and directly donated to WESSA. In
2013, Emma and her team helped Uplands College host Rhino Art on Campus through
the Kingsley Holgate foundation.
Emma genuinely cares for all animals and has been involved in our local community
outreach for abandoned and abused animals which is facilitated through an organisation
based in Nelspruit called Pro-Life
Emma attended the 2014 Rhino Summit and together with the other Uplands delegates
initiated the
Uplands Rhino
Project
(see
our Facebook group @
www.facebook.com/uplandsrhinoproject) in partnership with the Uplands SMILE
Programme. In this programme students actively engage with 100 Grade 4s from
Maqamela Primary school – a Primary school in close proximity to the Kruger National
Park, each year. Every Grade 4 receives a copy of local author, Chris Daniel’s Bongi’s
Quest and is taught English lessons which focus on conservation. The lessons include
mask–making, storytelling, Big 5 conservation vocabulary and building pride in our
animal heritage.
(https://youtu.be/2Hly-0vC-LM)
As a result of the sustainability of, and our success in these lessons, Emma arranged an
interview with DJ Fresh on 5Fm to highlight the Uplands Rhino Project, with the aim of
gathering further funding for it to be sustained into the future.
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One of Emma’s many goals is to share our rhino lessons with SMILE clubs in other
schools so that they too may take part in our initiative, thereby exposing even more of the
all-important youth to this crisis. Additionally, Emma is hell-bent on finding a way for this
project to be aired on Carte Blanche to spread the word. She is also in the process of
negotiating with Interact – a Rotary Youth Initiative - to pick up the cause and the
lessons.
Emma would like to take advantage of the athletic nature of the students at Uplands and
get them to participate in a few half marathons and ten kilometre races wearing a
special shirt. She rightfully believes that publicity creates awareness which is key to our
continued success. She thus plans on leading our Rhino Warriors in a “Running for
Rhinos” road race which could and should become an annual event in the area.
Emma is an assured young lady who engages meaningfully with all with whom she comes
into contact. She is passionate about conservation and the rhino crisis is close to her
heart. Emma is full of good ideas and the energy with which to activate them. Proof of
her dogged intent on saving these animals is in the drive to glean more signatures in the
declaration, than we were challenged to. As a result of her ideas, representatives of her
team went to other schools in the Lowveld, to get them.
Emma’s intent on finding a way to understand what sustains the demand in Asia was
evident when she recently re-met well-known activist, conservationist and fellow animal
lover, Trang Nguyen of Hanoi, Vietnam after meeting her briefly at the Rhino Summit.
Whilst having dinner with Trang, our students discussed their passion for animals and
their safety, the plight of many endangered species and Vietnam’s role in rhino poaching.
Emma learnt that the Vietnamese are more likely to respond to the human side of
poaching - the poverty that drives the poaching and the loss of rangers in apprehending
poachers. Also interesting to her was the fact that the Vietnamese have deliberately
removed rhino horn as a medicinal ingredient in over 75 medicine books in the hopes
that this will allay false perceptions that it is a healer. Trang has further inspired Emma to
engage in this debate. Emma will do our rhino, Uplands and South Africa proud in
Vietnam.
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Speaking of Vietnam…
This past month, 12 Rhino Summit Uplands Students met well-known activist,
conservationist and fellow animal lover, Trang Nguyen of Hanoi, Vietnam. Because there
is no conservation field of study in Vietnam, Trang is a Conservation Scholar at
Cambridge in England. She is currently doing her PH.D in Africa. Whilst eating typically
South African foods (babotie, milk tart and koeksisters), our students discussed her
passion for animals and their safety, the plight of many endangered species and her
country’s role in rhino poaching.
We learnt that the Vietnamese are more likely to respond to the human side of poaching
- the poverty that drives the poaching and the loss of rangers in apprehending poachers.
Also interesting, was the fact that the Vietnamese have deliberately removed rhino horn
as a medicinal ingredient in over 75 medicine books in the hopes that this will allay false
perceptions that it is a healer. Trang had spent the day in the Park filming a documentary
on rhinos but still found time to meet us and engage in debate.
Other rhino news
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Grade 9 camp
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Katie Prior (College House) is on her way to
Australia, representing SA. 
Past pupil talent:
Jana Branca matriculated from Uplands Collage in 2003. Although her heart had
decided to pursue a career in art at the age of 17, she took a gap year as a Rotary
exchange student not to rush into the decision. Living in Belgium for one year afforded
her the opportunity to travel Europe extensively though which she developed an interest
in the diversity and similarities of people and cultures. It was a priceless experience and
has shown to have had many benefits such as building character, confidence and
learning to speak French.
Jana completed her degree in fine arts at the University of Pretoria in 2008. In her
second year of study she met the man of her dreams and they got married days after
their final exams. As a chemical engineer her husband found a job at Sasol which moved
the newlyweds to Secunda right after their honeymoon. They now, have two beautiful
boys and have added a studio to their home which provides Jana with the ideal situation
of working from home. She is currently working as a full time mom and artist and enjoys
giving adult art lessons.
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In her second year at University she felt her love for art and her deepening understanding
and relationship with Jesus collide into an unavoidable purpose; that of returning to the
origin of art. At its onset, whether didactic, recording or glorifying in function art always
pointed towards the essence of something greater.
Currently she is exploring the possibility of weaving with paint as a metaphor for flesh
with reference to Psalm 139. Concepts of an omnipotent God, His provision, life, death
and atonement continue to interest her and it is around these notions which her work
currently centres.
Visit her website www.janabranca.com to see more of her work
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HERE COME THE TEENS—A BIT MORE JADED AND CYNICAL
I’ve been researching Generation Z for some time now. They are the newest
population of students measured today. And they are a different breed.
Fifteen years ago, we began to hear about the Millennials. They were graduating high
school and showing passion to change the world. They were engaging with civil
responsibility, joining non-profits, and signing up for the Peace Corps and the military.
These kids were determined to “make a difference.” Generation Y was certainly looking
different than Generation X before them. The Xers were grumbling about how the world
was broken; Gen Y was acknowledging a broken world but were optimistic about fixing it.
A Shift in Teens
Today, Generation Z is showing signs of a return to the cynicism. By most benchmarks,
teens today reveal they have lost faith in the “system.” The times are different and
darker and more distant. Consider the world they’ve grown up in since the turn of the
21st century:
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Their lives began at about the same time as the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
The conflict in the Middle East continues as the longest war in memory.
Racial unease; xenophobia
Loss of faith in government
Load shedding
The world is full of complex and complicated problems.
[Tim Elmore]I recently spoke to a friend of [his] who works with high school students in
Chicago. She told [him] she attended Lollapalooza, the rock festival held in California.
She said that while she expected some shocking behavior, nothing prepared her for the
demeanor of the young people in attendance. The crowd was marked by a sense of
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anarchy and apathy. In both those on the stage and in the crowd, my friend saw a mix of
Nihilism and Hedonism. Entertainers from the stage yelled: “Who gives a F*** what the
people in charge think. One musician even told the crowd to disregard the security staff
on the grounds (placed there, by the way, to keep them safe). Another singer shouted for
everyone to stick their middle finger in the air. From the lyrics, to the attitudes, to the
substances they smoked and drank, it was a steady dose of “do your own thing” and
“disregard anyone else.”
To be clear, [we] realize this does not represent every teen in America. But what a far cry
from those earlier Millennials. (It sounds a bit like the 1960s again.)
Ten Observations About Teens Today
Here are the new realities I see among the smaller and more cynical population of
adolescents today:
1. They have become more cautious and a bit more anxious about the state of the
country.
2. They want to be change agents, but realize the pace of change will be slower than
desired.
3. They are unhappy, even pessimistic, about the present direction of politics and
the economy.
4. They question their former obsession with good grades and college acceptance.
5. They have begun to see they have little understanding of stewardship of time or
money.
6. They want to explore the future, but many are paralyzed when faced with so many
options.
7. They despise society’s moral decay, but most admit to cheating at school and on
resumes.
8. They are often at odds with their own beliefs and values, and feel they must grow
up too fast.
9. They’re dissatisfied with corporate leadership, unlike 10-15 years ago.
10. They feel less prepared for life after school and often return home after college
graduation (boomerang generation)
I share these observations, simply because we must prepare to lead a different
population of teens (who may carry a more deviant worldview than those you’ve lead
over the last fifteen years). Their greatest needs may just be:
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Hope for the future
Innocence and wonder
Purpose for their career
A moral compass
May we rise to the occasion and lead them well.
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One of these men protects your freedom
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Local news
Dear friends and colleagues.
We are trying to get more awareness of our White River calendar and drive more
involvement in sharing with the community what’s on in and around town. If you don’t
want to receive this info I apologise and feel free to let me know or unsubscribe to next
week’s mail. (this one might not work as I am cheekily forwarding this to you.)
Please feel free to share this with your local friends or give us their email addresses if
you think they won’t be annoyed – they can always unsubscribe.
Also, do please let us know about, or place on our calendar, any events that are missing.
Feel free to check our calendar before planning an event to see if there are clashes in
town.
In the interests of working together for a successful town.
Regards
Hilton Barnett
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World news … and the response
to it
HUMANKIND, MEET OUR NEWEST RELATIVE: HOMO
NALEDI (HTTP://EWN.CO.ZA/FEATURES/NALEDI)
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!
It’s a ground-breaking discovery that will help us better understand who we are and how
we evolved. It might also make us question what it truly is to be human.
A team of scientists and researchers, led by Wits University professor Lee Berger, believe
they’ve unearthed a new species of human relative in the world’s richest hominin fossil
site, the Cradle of Humankind.
The new species, Homo naledi is named after the chamber in which it was discovered,
deep in the Rising Star caves. The remote underground room has been dubbed the
Dinaledi Chamber (“Chamber of Stars” in SeSotho) and has given up a treasure trove of
fossilised hominin remains.
The Rising Star Expedition has already removed parts of 15 individuals from the
chamber, but researchers believe they’re only just scratching the surface and that there
may be hundreds or even thousands more fossilized remains waiting to be unearthed.
H. naledi is a bit smaller and a lot older than we are, with curved fingers and a small
skull, but in some ways the species is also strikingly similar to humankind.
What makes the discovery truly unique is the context of the find and what it tells us
about who and what this primitive-looking hominid might have been. Researchers believe
that H. naledi may have done something previously thought to be unique to humans:
intentionally putting the bodies of its dead into a remote cave chamber in what scientists
describe as a ‘ritualized behaviour’.
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JOHANNESBURG – While the South African Council of Churches (SACC) says it’s celebrating
the discovery of Homo naledi with the world, it doesn't approve the theory that ‘humans come from
baboons’.
The SACC has reacted to comments regarding the discovery of Homo naledi, saying comments which
border on insulting the personhood of people by calling them baboons is extremely dangerous.
Former Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi took to
social media, where he tweeted that no one will dig old monkey bones to back up a theory that he was once
a baboon.
And so the debate must begin…
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