By GAVIN BYRT
YEAR 5 and 6 students at Mt Hira College have been learning about the history of Keysborough with the help of someone who has six generations of the Keys family in her blood.
President of the Dandenong and District Historical Society Christine Keys recently spent time with the students speaking about her passion for local history.
Christine was the ideal person to share her own perspective on the development of Keysborough.
When George Keys arrived from Ireland in the early 1800s with his five sons and their families, he was a new arrival with a mission. He settled near the Carrum swamp with the plan to develop a supportive community of neighbours and Keysborough was the result. From what began as a farming and market gardening community, with close links to Dandenong, Keysborough has continued to combine its green wedge quality with it continued growth of housing and industrial estates, balanced by its extensive recreational areas.
The Mt Hira students discovered they had several things in common with the old George Keys. Most of their parents are also new arrivals who have chosen Australia as their home and regard Keysborough as their community.
Mt Hira College in Perry Road grew from the vision of the Turkish community. It shares a site with the Turkish Community Mosque in Greens Road, near EastLink and like Keysborough itself, the school is growing fast.
As Grade 5/6 teachers Katie Silva and I were impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the students. I met Christine at the Dandenong and District Historical Society, where she volunteers each week. The society has continued to provide a dedicated service to the wider community as a vibrant resource to catalogue and protect our past and link this to the values we bring to future planning.
In response to a question from the students, Christine said she was proud to be a sixth generation descendant of a new arrival who chose this area to make a new home. She left the school more than ever convinced that we all have so much of value in our past and the lessons from our decendants often have keys to the values we hand on through our children.
The children at Mt Hira have certainly learnt another good lesson.
