The Fiji LDS Church College Introduces “Self-Reliance 2016”

Who can measure the worth of teaching the principles and values of Self-Reliance to our youth? Starting in January of 2016, Principal Solate Maiwiriwiri, Counsellor Mereoni Vuidreketi and the Fiji LDS Church College Self-Reliance Committee introduced “Self-Reliance 2016”. The school theme is “I Will Do My Part to Be Self-Reliant”.

Throughout the school year numerous exciting and innovative events have been planned for the students to participate in and help them develop self-reliance principles and skills. Self-Reliance has been the theme of many outstanding School Devotionals. The school has promoted well-designed banking and saving opportunities. Various business opportunities have been encouraged and supported. Excellent educational workshops have been programmed. A truly outstanding year has been planned for all students.

The 194 students registered in Self-Reliance Classes were taught from the “My Path” manual and then challenged to take the “My Path” manual home to teach their families what they learned. Hopefully, as these students learn additional Self-Reliance concepts, they will continue to teach their families what they learn.

The students participate in one Self-Reliance Class each week. The 2016 goal for Form 7 students is to complete “My Path”, “My Foundation”, “Education for Better Work” and “My Job Search”. The 2016 goal for Form 5 and Form 6 students is to go through “My Foundation” and “Starting and Growing My Business”. Form 5 and Form 6 students will continue with Self-Reliance classes in 2017 and complete “Education for Better Work” and “My Job Search”.

Fiji LDS Church College’s, “Self-Reliance 2016’” has made this an amazing year. There has been very positive response from the students. They have enjoyed learning the principles of being self-reliant as well as the excellent business, education and employment concepts offered through the Self-Reliance Classes. In some ways this endeavour is challenging, but definitely worth all the organizing and effort. Undoubtedly, students are being given the opportunity to learn valuable life-changing lessons by participating in Fiji LDS Church College’s “Self-Reliance 2016”.

A Fiji LDS Church College Student Self-Reliant Spotlight

“My Pathway to Self-Reliance” 

May 30th, 2016 

College Ends Celebration With Family Picnic

Exert captured from the Fiji Sun Newspaper Dated July 17th, 2016

Family of current and old students of Latter-Day Saints Church College ended their 40th anniversary celebration with a family picnic at Deuba yesterday.

School principal Salote Maiwiriwiri said: “The week-long activity brought the school community together and strengthened relationship ties with our stakeholders.

“The purpose of the celebration was to celebrate the history and the culture the school.”

She said every decade was responsible for preparing the event. This includes devotion, putting on a fashion show, family fun night, a march and picnic.

Meanwhile, Ms Maiwiriwiri said after the celebrations, total focus was on external examinations.

She said the school goal targeted an 80-100 per cent pass and to get there was still a work in progress.

The school is fully operated and funded by the church.

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Fiji LDS Church College

Dignitaries, students, faculty, alumni, families and friends filled the gymnasium of the Fiji LDS Church College in Tamavua Sunday, to attend a special devotional kicking off a week-long celebration of the school’s 40th anniversary.

The purpose of the college is to prepare graduates to attend regional universities and technical schools. It also prepares them for Church missionary and leadership responsibilities, combining both intellectual and spiritual training.

Owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the school was originally named LDS Fiji Technical College and was dedicated on 11 July 1976 by then Commissioner of Church Education, Jeffrey R. Holland, now in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

In his dedicatory prayer on that day, Elder Holland prayed for the students who would attend the school. “Bless them that they will be diligent, that they will work hard, that they will progress and not hide their talents but find and serve and perpetuate them in eternal glory and splendour, for thy great glory is intelligence."

He also prayed, “We bless them to be honest, not only honest in their examinations but in their hearts so they may take their rightful positions in the community, to help bring peace and prosperity to this nation.”

Talica Malani, school principal from 2000 to 2006 told the audience that the school provided an uplifting and well-resourced learning environment for the students, with wholesome development opportunities and a great disciplinary process.

Peter Hussein, who was the first Head Boy of the school, talked about the humble beginnings of the school. He said his class was the first group to move from the primary school to the newly created high school.

On Monday students released over 400 red balloons in celebration. Each balloon contained a note from a student written about what matters most to them--such as their faith, family, etc.

Vice Principal, Sereseini Qalovaki, said, “This was a great initiative from the student body leaders who didn’t realise the time it would take to fill all the balloons with gas. They sacrificed their breaks to do this.”

Principal Salote Maiwiriwiri said she was happy to be with the school as it celebrates this great milestone. “Our celebration marks the strong holistic education endeavours that each of us has contributed in the past 40 years, from the humble beginnings of the Fiji Technical College to the current Fiji LDS Church College.”

A number of activities have been organised by the school and the alumni for this week including a fashion show on Tuesday, a family night on Wednesday, cultural activities on Thursday and a march on Friday. A special picnic for LDS students and their families is scheduled for Saturday to conclude the weeklong celebration.

School March to Celebrate 40 years of Learning and Service

National Youth Band leading the march to celebrate 40 years of learning and service .

Students, teachers, former students, teachers and workers of the LDS Church College today marched to the beat from the Fiji National Youth Band down Ro Koboulevu Road to the school grounds in celebration of the 40th birthday of the school.

The theme of the celebrations was 40 years of service: Serving the Lord in Righteousness and Truth Unto the end. This theme was chosen as it represented the holistic purpose of our school's vision, which is to ensure that students enter to learn and go forth to serve. It is a celebration of our service to our school community over the last 40 years.

Vimal Kumar one of the organisers of the celebrations said that “the purpose of the march today was to take a walk down memory lane using the very same corridors of road that over the last 40 years has been our turf in a spirit of togetherness and unity. It is way of celebrating our spirit of unity and togetherness by marching in solidarity to show our love and support for the school we love and adore” he said.

The purpose of celebrations was to celebrate the 40 years of the school's existence. “It is a celebration of our dedication on July 11th, 1976 when the school was dedicated by the then Commissioner of Church Education, Jeffery R. Holland. It is also a celebration of our unique school culture, our people, our students, our values, and all that we have accomplished over the last 40 years and a reminder of our purpose as a school, which is to help individuals and families become self-reliant through the gospel of Jesus Christ and to help them become productive members of society, spiritually, academically, socially, and physically.”

The march ended at the school grounds with a performance by the National Youth Band before all students and former students filed into the school’s gymnasium for a special devotion. The celebrations end on Saturday with a picnic at Deuba beach for all students, former students, families and friends.

School Marks 40th Anniversary with Balloons

Over 400 red balloons containing testimonies of the students of LDS Church College were released today to mark the 40th anniversary of the school. Student body leaders had who organised this celebration had to sacrifice their breaks to fill all the balloons with helium gas while all students gave up their lunch time to release these balloons.

“This was a great initiative from the student body leaders who didn’t even realise the time it would take to fill up the balloons with gas. They sacrificed their breaks to do this. “, said Sereseini Qalovaki the Vice Principal of the School.

School Principal Salote Maiwiriwiri said that she was so happy to be part of the school as it celebrates this great milestone. “Our celebration marks the strong holistic education endeavours that each of us have contributed in the past 40 years from the humble beginnings of the Fiji Technical College to the current Fiji LDS Church College.”

The celebrations for this 40th birthday started with a special devotion on Sunday evening for all past and present scholars, parents, families, friends and leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A number of activities have been organised by the school and the alumni for this week including a fashion show on Tuesday, a family night on Wednesday, cultural activities on Thursday and a march on Friday. A special Picnic for LDS students and their families is scheduled for Saturday to conclude the weeklong celebration.

Fiji LDS Church College marks 40th year

The students of Latter Day Saints College with the balloons
before realeasing it during the 40th anniversary celebration
at school yesterday.Picture: RAMA

A ONE-WEEK celebration has begun for the 40th anniversary since the establishment of the Fiji Latter- day St Church College.

Yesterday students of the college released 400 red balloons at their school grounds in Tamavua, signifying 40 years of its existence.

College principal Salote Maiwiriwiri said it used to be known as the Latter-day St Technical College.

"Initially it was set up for technical vocational courses and in the early 1990s the desire for education began to change, in which we started to provide more academic classes," Sister Maiwiriwiri said.

"The school is fully funded by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), therefore enrolment is for LDS students. But the whole approach to education that we are celebrating is the holistic development of the child having being successful spiritually, academically, physically, socially, emotionally and with a new addition of financial support with regards to our education," she said.

Special Devotion Kick Starts 40th Anniversary Celebrations

Celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the LDS Church College began with a special devotion held at the school gymnasium yesterday that was attended by many current and former students, teachers and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Talica Malani ,a former Principal of the School from 2000 – 2006 shared in her reflections that the school provided an uplifting and well-resourced learning environment for the students along with wholesome development opportunities and a great disciplinary process. The first Head Boy of the school Peter Hussein said that the school had humble beginnings and that history of the College began with the decision to open a Primary school at the LDS Chapel in Devouex Road in 1970. From there students then moved to their Primary School in Samabula. His class was the first lot to go to the LDS Technical College

The LDS Church College was dedicated on 11 July 1976 by the Commissioner of Church Education, Elder Jeffrey R Holland in a special ceremony that was held at the school and attended by the then Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Mr Filipe Bole. 

In a special dedicatory payer of the school Elder Holland asked for blessings the students who study at the school. “Bless them that they will be diligent, that they will work hard, that they will progress and not hide their talents but find and serve and perpetuate them in eternal glory and splendour for thy great glory is intelligence. We bless them to be honest, not only honest in their examinations and in their hearts so they may take rightful positions in the community, to bring peace and prosperity to the nation, honesty and integrity will yet be looked into in government and educational and cultural circles in this island.”

Over 700 people attended this devotion.  

Fiji High School Students Bring Smiles to Cyclone-affected Children

Geography students at Fiji LDS Church College wanted to find a school they could “adopt” to provide service to. Their goal was to “put a smile on the faces of children who were badly affected by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston.

They chose the Nasautoka Primary School (NPS) in the province of Tailevu on the east side of Viti Levu Island to be their recipient. The homes and area surrounding the school were destroyed and the school lost the roofs and most of the contents from its buildings.  

Geography teacher Flora Dakuiyau said, “We chose to help this school through prayer and seeking inspiration from on high. After our principal encouraged the students to find a school to help, the Lord confirmed in my numerous travels up and down the King’s Road, passing this school, that this was the school.”

What she didn’t know at the time was that every school day, at 11:00 in the morning, the whole school was praying for help.

“No wonder the impression for this particular school was so strong when I travelled past it."

Head teacher, Mrs. Kolinisau, said approximately 90% of the children were badly affected by the cyclone and since then have had difficulty paying attention in class and recovering from their ordeal. “It would be good for them to have some normalcy.”

And that’s what the older students provided. With excitement they carefully planned what they thought would give these young students a day of happiness and also some items to lift their spirits.

The geography students assembled hygiene kits to give to each student with items donated by LDS Charities, an arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A local Church leader also donated clothing to be distributed to the children.

Money raised through a cupcake drive organized to buy t-shirts for the high school students was sacrificed to purchase $300 worth of sports equipment for NPS instead.

The day of the event, the students taught the children cultural dances and played games to help them forget the traumatic events of the cyclone and provide some closure.

Jokapeti, year 5, said, “This is the first time after the cyclone that I saw the whole school so happy!" He was very grateful for the fun day.

Cyclone Winston was the strongest cyclone in the country's recorded history, and Samisoni, year 3, said he had to hide under the table during the height of the storm. On this day, he especially loved the dances and games because “it has been long since we had fun again.”

When Ilisoni, a year 5 student learned what was in the hygiene kit, he excitedly said that he didn't own a toothbrush and looked forward to receiving his.

Mrs. Kolinisau shed tears of gratitude as she described how thoughtful and kind it was for the students from Suva to travel for two hours “just to come and put a smile on their younger brothers and sisters of Nasautoka and to experience what these students go through every school day.

“I am immensely grateful for their sacrifice in order to purchase the balls and items for kindergarten and for their time and effort in putting together the kits. It will bring some normalcy to their lives.”

She was also excited about the new relationship that has been forged with this Suva high school.

Mr. Dreu, the education officer in Nausori was surprised that a secondary school had thought of “coming to put a smile on the faces of the children with their games and dances.” He said it was a first for him.

The Nasautoka Village head man, with tears in his eyes and a voice choked with emotion said (in i’taukei language), “Vinaka vakalevu na nanumi ira na luvei kemami.”

How did the high school students feel about their day?

Miriama, year 13, said, “I feel so happy to see the kids smiling and enjoying themselves. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to help bring back the beautiful smiles on the faces of Heavenly Father’s children.”

“It was a humbling experience to be able to go and serve the little children,” said Tevita, year 12. “Seeing their happy faces was so satisfying and made the trip worthwhile.”

Laisani, year 11, said, “It was faith-promoting to see these people continue to rely on divine intervention for help at a time when they needed help the most. Despite their hardships, the children still smiled.”

Newsroom contributor: Sulueti C Bale Kama