Kylie+Helmore+-+Ryan+Catholic+College

Ryan Catholic College was first established in 1979 by the Catholic Diocese of Townsville to meet a need the church saw in outer lying areas of the city. As such it was named after the bishop of the time, Bishop Hugh Ryan and was first known as Ryan Catholic Community School. Today the College is the largest Catholic school in the diocese with in excess of 1900 students from Prep to Year 12 and in excess of 200 staff. Over its 30 year history the College has had association with a number of religious orders including: Ø MacKillop, named after Blessed Mother Mary MacKillop from the order of the Sisters of St Joseph; Ø Griffin, named after Mother Columba Griffin, a Sister of Mercy; Ø Connolly, named after Father James Connolly, the first parish priest of Townsville and Ø McGuire, named after Bishop Terrance Bernard McGuire, appointed as the first bishop when Townsville was established as a separate diocese in 1930. How then do we define our charism? Defining the Charism of the College today ** A task set to the staff prior to attending the ‘Light for the Journey’ conference was to define what we perceive to be the charism of the College. Much discussion centred on the fact that we are very much a college built on the notions of social justice and service, a community who is welcoming and values and supports each member and one who believes all that we do is based on the Gospel values. Our motto ‘Stay with us Lord’ from the Emmaus story reminds us that Jesus is always with us on our journey. After much discussion the following definition of a charism was reached: //‘Ryan Catholic College is a faith-filled community with a focus on service, outreach, acceptance and support for all.’// Therefore do we easily identify ourselves with one charism? No. Do we identify ourselves with Christ and the Gospel values? Most definitely. Do we need to identify ourselves strictly with one charism? Brien and Hack (2005) define charism is a broad sense as providing “with a lens through which to view the gospel, in the hope that we will be inspired and compelled to live this call to discipleship.” Green (2009) – Lay charism
 * __ Situational Analysis __**
 * __ The Charism of Ryan Catholic College __**
 * Foundation of the College **
 * Sisters of the Good Samaritan who taught at the school for some time.
 * Our four sports houses: