 | Last update on site 27 January 2012 DANDENONG HIGH SCHOOL EX STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION
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Number of visits to this site since 16 June 2010 >> |
A very warm welcome to our site!
The Ex-Students Association helps former students and staff get in touch with one another, assists with major school reunions, and keeps 'exies' up to date, through this website and Facebook, and in more detail, through a newsletter to members, with news and views of what former students are doing since leaving school. Details of mebership are shown elsewhere on the site, as is a growing collection of class photos, school songs and details/conditions of information searches we make from School records in our care, in response to ex-student requests. We also work for specific projects in the School, and fund a music scholarship and other student merit awards (see below). The site itself is also proving to be a useful tool for student classwork.
Hope you enjoy your visit here, and would be pleased to hear from you. (see "contacts" page)
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BRIEF HISTORY
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 Percy C W Langford | The life and fortunes of the Dandenong High School Ex Students Association have waxed and waned since it began in the 1920's. Then it was led by the principal, Mr PCW Langford and supported by enthusiastic staff and former pupils. Many social events were enjoyed in the township and money was raised for the school. This continued throughout the 1930’s, although the Great Depression did put a damper on things. By the time World War II commenced, all but the very basics at the school fell by the wayside.
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| During the 1950’s, an energetic revival occurred under the leadership of former Prefect and House Captain, Ted Hook. His group met weekly at the Manhattan Café in Langhorne St Dandenong. They organised dances, final term socials for the students of the school, fundraising events, and were responsible for the highly successful week of celebrations to mark the school’s 40th anniversary. When these group members gradually moved away during the 1960s, to raise families and pursue their careers, the Association once again went into recess. In an “official sense” at least, there appears to have been little or no Ex- Student activity in the socially and politically turbulent period of the late 1960’s and 1970’s. |
Then in 1989, a committee of former staff and students was formed to organise DHS’s 70th anniversary. Former Prefect and House Captain Greta Jungwirth (de Vries) co-ordinated the hastily put together group, and in three months time all was prepared for what was a memorable “Back to” on the 19th August. Thousands of ex- students, together with many former teachers, gathered from all over the country for the weekend of activities, and many didn’t want to leave when the gates were closing. Encouraged by this show of interest and enthusiasm, Greta and members of the organising committee decided to try to capitalise on it, and eventually this led to the present incarnation of the Association.
After a first attempt in November 1990,. a second meeting on 20 February 1992, firmly re-established the Association. The encouragement and support of the principal, Bruce Rayment, was crucial at this time. The aims of the newly formed committee were ambitious, but over the next ten years most were achieved. A data base of former students and staff was established, a history unit was set up to catalogue and store archival materials at the school, items of replica memorabilia (eg, old uniforms) were designed and purchased, a choir of ex-students and staff recorded a CD of school songs in 1996, class decade reunions were held every year, and the committee members took responsibility for organising the 75th and 80th anniversaries of the school. |
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During the years since 1992, a close relationship has been forged with the school. A number of scholarships have been funded with an aim of inspiring and encouraging the musical talents of students. One of these is in honour of the late former principal, Bruce Raymant; while the other acknowledges the unique contribution made to the school by former pupil and long serving teacher, Edna Dawson Vukmirovic, through the funding of an annual scholarship. Committee members regularly attend assemblies such as ANZAC Day, the presentation of badges to student office-bearers.
The Assoociation funds two further presentations: the Dandenong Festival Art Awrd, and the Dandenong Festival Drama Award, at the School's annual Awards Night. Fund-raising for special projects within the school is ongoing, including items such as new House banners, replica badges for House Captains and Prefects, as were used in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as a House Choral Competition trophy and a new school flag.
The Association today is strong and vibrant, with encouraging interest from more recent students, leading to confidence that it will continue to be a relevant body attached to the school into the future. This will always depend of course upon former students continuing to come forward with a desire to put something back into DHS, enlarged as its student body now is, with the recent inclusion of pupils from the former Cleeland and Doveton Secondary Colleges, and so help to preserve its ever growing history and tradition.
