Author: L. Crankshaw

A very special shout-out to the Karoo 360 team!

Looking after 50 kids out in the Karoo for five days is no small undertaking. There are camps to set up, equipment to move, meals to prepare, water to organise and a hundred little things that need to happen behind the scenes to keep an Odyssey like this moving.

And this year, with all the rain we’ve had and the river coming down, there has been even more to think about.

𝗗𝗮𝘄𝗶𝗱 𝗱𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝘁, 𝗝𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗮 have been such an important part of making it all work. In the lead-up to Odyssey, they helped us rethink and work out alternative walking routes where necessary because of the river and the wet conditions. And now that we’re out here, they’re carting equipment, helping set up camps, making sure there is fresh water, pitching in with meals and, quite simply, putting their hands to whatever needs doing.

So much of what they do happens quietly in the background, but it makes an enormous difference. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 – exactly the sort of people you want alongside you when Mother Nature decides to rewrite the plans!

Dawid, Jeffrey and Thato, 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨. For the long hours, the willing hands, the problem-solving, the fresh water, the heavy lifting and all those little things that most people will never see, but without which Odyssey simply wouldn’t work.

𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘖𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰.

We’re only partway through the journey and we’re already incredibly grateful to have you out here with us.

In celebration of 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵, some of our senior boys rolled up their sleeves today to plant a beautiful white stinkwood tree near the Bruce Maree Gates.

The tree is one of our special 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝘀 trees, lovingly cultivated by Headmaster Mr William Pringle and will now take its place on the Union grounds – 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.

Another term completed brings with it another opportunity to celebrate the hard work and achievements of our learners.

On behalf of all the educators and staff at @Union, we congratulate our 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝟭𝟬 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦 for Term 3.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬!

There are certain moments in a matric year that quietly remind you that school is coming to an end and today’s Old Unionite Association induction was one of them.

Union High School’s 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 gathered with members of the OUA committee as they were formally welcomed into the Association – 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.

OUA Chairman 𝗠𝗿 𝗥𝗵𝗲𝘁𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘁𝗼𝗻 spoke to the matrics about something quite simple, but important: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵. He encouraged them to hold onto the friendships they have made at Union, to keep up with their classmates as life takes them in different directions and to remain connected to the school that has been such a big part of their lives.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.

As part of their induction, each matric was also gifted a beautiful leather Class of 2026 keyring by the OUA – 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 from Union learners to Old Unionites.

Once the formalities were over, the OUA treated the Grade 12s to lunch – a chance simply to sit together, chat and enjoy one another’s company during these last few weeks of school.

Their time as Union learners may be drawing to a close, but today was a gentle reminder that 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹.