Growth path

Here's a handy graph that shows how enrolments have grown since the School of St Jude  started in 2002.

That's a steep growth path! What a lot of work there has been to give all these bright children an excellent education.

Supporters of School of St Jude

The historian Stanley Payne talks about the different roles in the making of a revolutionary uprising and I thought that these types might apply to supporters of the School of St Jude. Here goes!

1. Ideological revolutionaries who have been pushing for revolution “forever” and provide the sparks, which only catch fire under certain conditions. This would be Gemma who worked away at the concept when it was still just an idea.
2. Sophisticated types who come around to accepting the need for revolutionary change and provide a critical level of intellectual ability. These would be Rotary and professionals who provided business and technical advice in the early years.
3. Those seeking adventure who leap on the opportunity for actualization and provide the force. These would be the hundreds of supporters who have volunteered at the school and the supporters who have taken on all the different fund-raising challenges. 
4. Those who are eventually compelled to side with the revolution adding to the force. This would be the thousands of supporters who recognise that the School of St Jude is a well-managed project that is highly effective.
5. Those who jump on board opportunistically if the revolution picks up steam moving the revolution toward ultimate success. Perhaps this role doesn't transfer from revolutionary uprisings to projects like St Judes. I don't see many opportunists among St Jude's supporters.

Here's a photo from the 2010 Winter Wonderland Charity Ball in Perth that raised $18,000 for the School. What a great challenge for the organisers.

Winter Wonderland Ball 2010

Stanley Payne says that all these roles and types are necessary for revolutionary change to occur, and that each is activated according to distinct psychological and social logics. I think this is true that major projects like the School of St Jude need a wide range of different kinds of supporters. And they all need to stay the distance if success is to be achieved.

Certainly the School of St Jude is past its infancy and is well down the track to ultimate success. What will that look like? Will it be the first class of high school graduates? Or the first crop of university graduates?