Oakhill Welcomes Back Br Mark McKeon

Oakhill is pleased to announce that Br Mark McKeon has returned to the College after an 18-year hiatus. Br Mark McKeon has answered the Lasallian call and taken on many challenges worldwide, instigating key Lasallian initiatives that are important cornerstones of our community and mission. His commitment and breadth of experience are welcomed, as is his vast knowledge of education:

Forty years ago, this year, I joined the De La Salle Brothers after teaching for a year in North Queensland. My first year of teaching as a Brother was in Melbourne in 1983 and the following year I found myself in Papua New Guinea. I taught for two years at De La Salle Bomana, a high school just outside of Port Moresby. It was a challenging time for the country as they had only gained their independence from Australia in 1975. There were significant law and order problems and we often experienced night-time curfews. In 1986 I was asked to be a member of a pioneering community to a remote school, Tapini High School, in the highlands of Central province. The students at this school walked for two or three days at the start of each term to attend school. The school was allocated electricity for one hour a day. Meals were cooked over a fire so one of the workgroups each afternoon was tasked with collecting firewood.

After three years in Papua New Guinea, I returned to Australia and spent the next five years teaching in Australian schools. In 1992 I was asked to go to New Zealand. For the next seven years I taught in two Lasallian schools in New Zealand; De La Salle College Mangere, a school in a lower socio-economic area of Auckland whose student population was made of 95% of boys whose families were from the Pacific Islands. As you might expect, one of my extra-curricular duties was rugby coaching. 
 
The second school I taught at was Francis Douglas Memorial College in the rural town of New Plymouth in the province of Taranaki. Again, I was involved in rugby coaching. In 1999 I arrived at Oakhill College where I was taught for five years. One of my enjoyable memories from this time was working with another teacher to establish the Lasallian Youth Leader model. Seeing so many senior students taking on various leadership roles was great.
 
It was with a degree of disappointment that I departed Oakhill at the end of the year having been asked to take on the role of Director of Vocations and Youth Ministry for Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. My time in this role had many silver linings. I was able to promote the idea of Lasallian Youth Leaders in other schools in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

From 2009-2014 I was asked to take on leadership roles for the animation of the Lasallian mission. When my time concluded in these roles, I received a request from the Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in Palestine. This is a Lasallian University and the only Catholic University in the Holy Land. I assumed the position of Vice President for Human Resources. The University has a student population of 3,400 and a staff of over 400. It was a wonderful experience to be able to work alongside the people of Palestine in their challenging political environment. I was also fortunate to be able to do some lecturing in the leadership institute of the University and accompany a group of students called Student Ambassadors, who would welcome many international groups and speak to them about their experience of living under the Israeli occupation.

At the end of 2017, I returned to New Zealand initially to work across the three Lasallian schools in New Zealand. That plan was short-lived as a I received a request from the New Zealand Bishops to join the formation team at the National Diocesan Seminary in Auckland to train future priests. My time at the seminary concluded in June this year when I was asked to return to Australia to take on the role of Director of Lasallian Vocations. This role also includes the formation of young brothers in the Pacific-Asia region. It does leave me some time, and now I find myself back at Oakhill College after a twenty-year absence. It feels like coming back home.

My role at Oakhill will be to engage with students and staff in a variety of ways, in particular through involvement with the College Mission team and the Pastoral care teams. This will include participation on the various year level retreats, visits to Religious Education classes and support in the area of pastoral care when needed. 

Mrs Gabby Russo - Marketing & Community Liaison Co-ordinator - Oakhill College