St Catherine's School

In 1992, at the tender age of 18, Carolyn Creswell (1991) was busy making muesli in her spare time for a small family business whilst studying for an Arts degree at Monash University. Faced with losing her job when the business was put up for sale, Carolyn offered her savings of $1,000 to buy the tiny operation and run it herself. The offer was accepted and Carman’s Fine Foods was born. Fourteen years on and Carolyn is still extremely hands-on at Carman’s, managing day-to-day business, developing marketing strategies, consolidating existing business channels and opening new export markets, particularly in Asia. She has turned Carman’s into a thriving company, wholesaling muesli and muesli bars to thousands of retail outlets throughout Australia including Woolworths and Coles, with other contracts such as Lite ‘n’ Easy and Qantas. Carman’s muesli and muesli bars are the top selling gourmet products in their category within Australia.

Felicity Edwards (2002) always had an interest in Japan and its culture; an interest which was further sparked when she travelled to Japan on exchange during her Year 11. Felicity now works as a Stress Engineer with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagoya, Japan; a role which involves examining aircraft parts before they are manufactured to establish whether they withstand forces.

The Honourable Justice Linda Dessau (1969) became a Judge of the Family Court of Australia in 1995 after a distinguished career in the law. As an active community and charity volunteer, Linda was appointed to the AFL Commission in 2007, having been the inaugural President of the Essendon Women’s Network since 1997.

Liz Bostock has been on the St Catherine’s Old Girls’ Association Committee for several years, and is currently the Registrar. Since commencing volunteer work more than 20 years ago, Liz has just served in an honorary role at her third Olympic Games (having been involved in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics). In addition, her volunteer work has recently taken her to Sydney for World Youth Day; a role which involved looking after Pope Benedict, Cardinals and Bishops and working amongst the 500,000 pilgrims. Liz has also assisted with the Commonwealth Games, FINA Swimming and World Masters Games events and administers a Charitable Trust for a friend who was crippled in an accident.

In 1956 Margaret Woodlock (1955) was selected to represent Australia in shot put at the Melbourne Olympic Games. As a past School Captain of St Catherine’s and Victorian Champion, Marg went on to become Australian Champion and much later, World Masters Games Gold medallist. She was a tennis champion, an Olympic Torch relay member and until recently, a serving member of the Victorian Olympic Executive Committee. After graduating from Melbourne University, Marg was appointed Head of Physical Education at Melbourne Girls Grammar and held similar positions in England. Marg’s community activities include 56 years with the Australian Guiding movement as a guide, Certified Trainer and member of the State Council and over 60 years with the Red Cross. She has also held the State-appointed position of Director of the Strolling Players Performing Arts Group and was named special ambassador by Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. Marg has been honoured by Guiding Australia, the Red Cross, the American Biographical Institute for outstanding service to youth, sport and recreation and by St Catherine’s itself in 1995 with the creation of the Margaret Woodlock Bursary for superlative sporting achievements. Today, Marg is an Event Organiser in her own business responsible for many high-profile events and is a photographer of coastal landscapes.

A St Catherine’s Old Girl and Boarder, Melissa Sweetland (1986) is currently Manager - Retail and Distribution at the Hume Building Society, living in southern NSW, with her husband and two daughters, Lily and Annabel. After school, Melissa went to Trinity College and studied Commerce at University of Melbourne. She joined PricewaterhouseCoopers qualifying as a chartered accountant before travelling to Europe. In between pursuing her love of travel (Melissa has recently visited her 50th country, Croatia!), she worked in change management in London. On returning to Melbourne she joined GE as a ‘Master Black Belt’, a role akin to an internal management consultant. She then enjoyed various Vice President roles, including Vice President Strategic Planning, e-Business and finally, Marketing. Her final few years at GE were spent commuting the four hours to Melbourne from her husband’s farm in southern NSW. Melissa says one of her most distinct memories of St Catherine’s is sitting down with the Principal to rewrite school rules, an experience which she says “has made sitting in boardrooms around the world a little less daunting”.

This year, the School was fortunate to welcome Old Girl and renowned violinist, Rebecca Chan (1996), to speak at the annual Year 12 Awards Night. Rebecca began her musical studies at an early age on both violin and piano and has been performing since the age of four. At 15 she began studying at the Melbourne University Conservatorium with William Hennessy whilst completing degrees in Medicine and Arts. Since 2004 she has studied with Alice Waten at the Australian National Academy of Music. She has also studied and performed with other numerous international and local visiting artists, both in Melbourne and overseas. Rebecca has won numerous major prizes at eisteddfods and has also been a prizewinner in the Gisborne International Competition and the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award. She won the Melbourne University JS Bach Prize and was a finalist in the 2005 Dorcas Maclean Scholarship. She is a two-time winner of the ANAM concerto competition and has been invited to perform solos with a number of orchestras including Orchestra Victoria, Australia Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the ANAM orchestra, Melbourne University Chamber Orchestra and Melbourne Youth Orchestra, resulting in several live and national broadcasts.