The Jeppe community opened its doors to Northwood

 

The Northwood winter sports exchange has come and gone and the Jeppe families who opened their homes to our visitors were once again amazed at the manners, courtesy and gratitude of the Northwood boys.

The consensus was that the parents were thrilled to host them, and that the boys made new friends that they would really like to meet up with again in the future.

We get to do it all again on 4 August when Durban High School will be our guests. We ask our community to remember that date, and to take in some of the visiting boys once more. Speak to a family who hosted some of the Northwood boys and you’ll hear that it’s an uplifting experience.

Here are a few comments from Jeppe parents who hosted Northwood boys:

I would like to comment on the behaviour and manners of the boys we hosted. They were exceptionally pleasant and really nice upstanding young men. Please forward to Northwood that these two gentlemen carried themselves with dignity and respect.

We had three boys who were very engaging, great manners and just plain awesome. After dinner, we all sat in the lounge to watch some TV, with being so cold, we offered them all a blanket - and when Dean brought out the "Jeppe blanket" they suddenly declined, it was such a good laugh. All in good spirits.

Thank you for trusting our family again, it is an honour to host these boys, they were very well mannered. We will do it again .We had a braai and enjoyed to hear their conversations about sports .

This was our first time doing this and it was an incredible experience and will do it over again. We hosted three grade 11 boys from the soccer team. I must commend the Jeppe Boys for such great hospitality towards their peers who they played against in a soccer match but saw them as brothers.

And some letters of thanks from the Northwood people:

Always a wonderful fixture against Jeppe. Thank you for hosting our boys! May the friendship between these two great schools continue to flourish!

As one of the staff from Northwood who had the privilege to be hosted by Jeppe this weekend, I'd like to congratulate Jeppe on an excellent weekend. And every single gentleman from Jeppe showed impeccable manners, something the school can be enormously proud of. Thank you to everyone involved. A great school indeed!

Thank you so much to each family for hosting our boys this weekend. As parents we are truly thankful.

 

100 years of performing arts at Jeppe

 

The Performing Arts Society at Jeppe High School for Boys celebrated its 100^th anniversary by presenting Shakespeare’s  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” -

the same Shakespearean masterpiece that was produced in its first year, 1923.

It was a magical, immersive theatre experience, honouring the legacy of performing arts at the school, and celebrating the historical beauty of the campus by performing scenes at venues around the grounds and buildings.

 

Otsile represents the youth

 

On 14 April, Jeppe’s Debating captain, Otsile Nkadimeng, was part of the Presidential Climate Commissions’ colloquium on the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and Electricity Planning and Recommendations for South Africa’s Electricity Future.

He formed part of the panel representing the views of all the multiple stakeholders the commission had consulted throughout their drafting process.

Otsile was there to represent the interests of young people and he received a standing ovation from the audience after he spoke.

He continues to make us all very proud.

 

With freedom comes responsibility

 

Freedom Day is celebrated on Thursday 27 April this year. To mark the occasion the Jeppe Schools held their customary Freedom Day Assembly on Wednesday, at the boys school.

There were representatives from Jeppe High School for Girls and Jeppe High Preparatory School in attendance and they were, as is traditional, addressed by a high profile speaker.

This year the speaker was historian and author Zikhona Valela, author of ‘Now you know how Mapetla died’, the story of the 1976 murder in police custody of Mapetla Mohapi, the first Black Consciousness leader to die in detention.

Her message to the assembly was that Freedom Day should serve as both a reminder of injustices of the past and a tribute to those who fought against them, but also as a call to action for everyone to continue to oppose injustice and bad governance.

She made a particular point of telling her mainly male audience that they can begin their contribution by making the world a safer place for girls and women.

There were speeches by student leaders from the girls and boys schools, as well as poems read by Jeppe Prep learners and musical performances by the Jeppe High School for Girls drummers and the Boys School’s marimba band.

 

Cristiano is our latest international sportsman

 

Cristiano de Freitas is in the seven-man squad that will be representing South Africa at the World Rowing U19 Championships in Vartes-sur-Marne, France from August 2 -6.

This is the second year in a row that he will be going to the World Champs, last year the coxed Four that he rowed in finished fourth there. “We aren’t quite sure exactly which boats will be entered this year, but I have qualified to be in the Four again,” he said. “I am in a crew with two St Benedict’s rowers, and one from St John’s, and our cox is from St Stithians. The two Bennies boys have been my direct opponents all through school and now we are team mates learning to row with each other, and we have become friends.”

Cristiano has been rowing at Jeppe since Grade 8 and his boats have been in the medals at all the big events he has participated in. “I fell out of love with the sport for a while in Grade 9,” he said, “but my friends and the coaches wouldn’t let me give up. I’m glad they didn’t. It’s great to be involved with the sport. You develop special relationships of trust and community. You work hard together and make friendships that are going to last for a long time.”

He is not sure what he will be doing next year – local or overseas study, or working – but whatever it is, he will carry on rowing. “I would love to represent the country at senior level,” he said. “I know that will take special coaching and lots of hard work,” however.”

For now he is training every day for the World Champs, after which he takes a break to get stuck into his books ahead of the matric exams.

He is Jeppe’s latest international sportsman. We are very proud of him.

 

34 Jeppe players in provincial hockey teams

 

There are 34 Jeppe players in the various Southern Gauteng Schools hockey teams that were announced last night. They will be playing in Interprovincial Tournaments during the upcoming school holidays.

Pride of place goes to the 1^st team who have six players in the U18A team, three in the B, one in the C and two in the D, for a total of 12 representatives from their ranks.

The Jeppe players chosen are:

U18A - Diahn Alberts-Flynn, Jaydon Brooker, Neo Chimanyi, Miguel de Jesus, Boipelo Koloti, Joshua Renders

U18B - Ben Benjamin, Ryan Harcourt Baldwin, Sello Sejeng

U18C - Christian Steinmann

U18D- Tyrique Joseph, Matthew Morudi

U16A - Ezray Stadt, Ethan Kapanda

U16B - Raphael Madzivadondo, Thomas Baigent, Jayden da Silva, Juan Martin

U16C- Adriaan Laubsher, Jarryd Gordon Watt

U16D - Lester Mhlongo, Ethan van Deventer, Matthew McKenzie, Cole Stanbury

U14A - Adam Breytenbach, Sbonelo Dishi, Jadon Havinga, Tshimologo Mogale, Blake Sartor

U14B - Daniel Assad, Tshiamo Tlou

U14C - Keegan Viljoen

U14D – Daniel Maulgue

As already reported, a further six Jeppe teachers and coaches will be accompanying the teams as coaches or managers. They are: Bryan Hillock (U14A head coach), Kivesh Padarath (U14A manager), Craig Patmore (U14B manager), Vergilio Rodrigues (U14D manager), Siya Sityana (U16A assistant coach), Jessica Bothma (U16D manager).

That’s a significant showing from one school, it confirms Jeppe’s place as the pre-eminent boys hockey school in the province. Well done to all, good luck for your IPTs.