10 Facts You Didn’t Know about The Mary Word

By Chloe Cheng

Hello! We are all here today to celebrate 10 years of The Mary Word, which is the student newspaper of Loreto Normanhurst.

After reading this, I hope you may consider joining. LETS GO!!

Fact one: The Mary Word is a welcoming space to develop your skills and express your thoughts. It offers support and encouragement, making it a safe place to share ideas. By giving everyone the chance to have their voice heard, it reflects the value of Freedom.

Fact two: Here at The Mary Word, we sometimes run workshops. Our most recent one focused on video editing, where we explored CapCut and its features. During week 7 on Wednesday, we used our phones to film short clips and then tried editing them in CapCut, with the Editors-in-Chief moving around to give guidance. Workshops can definitely be fun!

Fact three: Our teacher coordinator explained that most schools don’t have a student newspaper, so being involved in ours is a valuable opportunity. It not only makes school life more engaging but also strengthens your resume or university application, giving you an advantage when applying for degrees or jobs.  

Fact four: The Mary Word is a great place to meet new friends! Each meeting brings in new faces and I’ve even seen primary students connecting with high schoolers. Meeting new people means more help, advice and friendship in your life!

Fact five: Being part of The Mary Word is a great way to develop leadership skills. The Editors-in-Chief lead every meeting, gaining experience in responsibility and organisation, qualities that are essential in leadership roles. Leadership positions often require responsibility, organisation and active involvement in extra-curricular activities and the school community. The best part is that students from any grade can take on a role in The Mary Word.

Fact six: All info about The Mary Word is on the website. Handy! You can find out how it started and learn about the people who’ve been involved over the years.

Fact seven: The Mary Word helps you develop research skills to gather knowledge for your articles. For example, in this issue you may need to research when writing pieces like “Graduations Around the World” or “The Evolution of Schoolbags,” of if you are recording a video.

Fact eight: You gain valuable skills that are useful in everyday life. For example, research skills allow you to share your knowledge with others and many of the topics you learn will be brand new information for those around you.

Fact nine: If you have a class in MWW 74, 75 or 76, you’re in luck! That’s where our meetings are held. I often had math there right after lunch, which made getting to class much quicker.  

Fact ten: The Mary Word was started in 2015 by Academic Activities Captain, Polina Nesterova. She wanted to give students more of a voice in our school community and an opportunity to try out working as a journalist.

Come and check out The Mary Word! We meet every Wednesday at lunchtime in the Mary Ward Wing (rooms 75 and 76) from 1:15pm. We’ll welcome you with open arms!

(And yes, for any Epic: The Musical fans, that “open arms” line is both an accidental and intentional pun, think Odysseus, Polites, the Lotus Eaters and Troy)