Toongabbie Christian College

CELESTE BAISSARI Student 1999-2002 School Captain 2002 Teacher 2021-Present

Lastly and, no doubt, to the shock and horror (or recollection) of many reading this, the internet was not a “thing” in the 90s, our assessments and research were completed using… BOOKS. We did school, and life, scarcely being online. We were in the era of dial-up internet, which meant not being allowed to use the phone when you needed the internet because the internet cable ran off the phone line. And, you had to remember to plug the phone back in once you finished (mobiles hadn’t taken off yet). No, my current age is not considered geriatric. Of course, Mr Lawrence deserves a mention. He was a confessional wizard, always able to elicit confessions from any students about any sort of behaviour by simply walking around the corner at the right time (even if he was completely unaware of what was going on). But, he had such a love for the students and took every opportunity to pray for and encourage us. Mrs Thomas could silence a class just by walking into a room (her weapon is not lost, she still can). She never needed to say anything and, if or when she did, students wanted to listen because she spoke with wisdom and insight. Fast forward many years and I found myself in the classroom as a teacher. And amazingly, as I compile this, I find myself in the classrooms of TCC and working alongside the staff that significantly impacted my life. This was actually something I had asked God for many years ago, as a way to be able to give back to the place that gave me so much. Seeing TCC as it is now only magnifies the faithfulness and blessings of God upon a place that sincerely strives to keep Him at the centre of all that it does. O, present (and future) students, how truly blessed you are to be in a place that genuinely values you, treasures you and seeks God’s best for you!

From day one, I became more and more excited to be at school, a feeling that was foreign to me. There was something special about the teachers and there was also something special about the way that these Christians loved God and accepted each person, teachers and students alike. I had been a Christian for some time but after I started at TCS, I knew that I wanted to experience God the way they were. Thus began my journey to a deeper and bolder faith. TCS was incredibly instrumental in shaping the way I sought and got to know God and it cultivated a love of worshipping Him through music, something that I have continued in ever since. That act of worship through music became, and still is, home for me and I am forever grateful for those precious opportunities that grew my faith. On another note, there were some hilarious and also memorable times had at school. There was the time we camped in the bush for five days and came home smelling worse (and probably looking worse) than a tip, not to mention the befriending of the electric fence that surrounded our camping area. (It definitely did not keep lizards, large spiders and other creatures away, although it was an effective cow deterrent). Speaking of camps, who could forget Prefect Camp with the incredible Mrs Nunn when the boys decided that the best way to bake an apple pie was to do so without removing the box. Or our Year 10 School Formal at the now non-existent Australia’s Wonderland? I also have a recollection of dressing up and walking around as an exploded bomb to launch our lunch time Bible Study, ‘TNT’ (pun completely intended). The MPC was officially opened in 2002, something I had the privilege of being part of as School Captain. We held the inaugural Presentation Night there later that year with no air conditioning and little ventilation. We survived but our hair definitely complained.

I began my journey with TCC in 1999, halfway through Year 9 and when TCC was Toongabbie Christian School. I had heard great things about the place but little did I know the incredible things that awaited me. My first day, I found my church friends and met my Family Group teacher: Mrs Elmer. She was (and still is) pretty wonderful! She read devotions, prayed with us every morning and cultivated an environment of love and acceptance of one another.

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