St Teresa’s Catholic College

LOGO

The college takes its name from one of the most remarkable women of the church: St Teresa of Jesus.  Made Patroness of her native Spain in 1617, St Teresa was canonised in 1622 and today is regarded the parton saint of writers.  She was awarded a Doctorate of the Church for her spiritual writings and these tests are still widely referenced for guidance in transforming the spiritually intractable and those seeking a deeper inner experience of God’s word.  St Teresa was both a reformer and a founder within the Carmelite order.  She made a vow always to follow the more perfect course, although the atmosphere prevailing at the monastery was less than favourable to the more perfect type of life to which Teresa aspired.  Eventually her deeply felt spirituality shone through and Teresa was later to found several monasteries and convents and improve the spiritual condition of the community. 

The central form of this logo is based on an episode from her younger life where she was overwhelmed with intellectual visions, ecstasies and extraordinary graces (not at all unlike rapidly growing children).   This image has most appealed to the artists and biographers and has been adopted here to represent the power of knowledge polarising a youthful central figure.  This knowledge though, is linked to the heart, not the brain and symbolises the importance of God’s love in the development of a deeper understanding of the world.With the sky and sea between, the figure responds to its environment with vigour and joy – this is clearly no passive observer, but a participant in higher learning in a lush and sunny environment; an image deemed to the ideal representation of what St Teresa’s College will offer.  The chosen motto: “Dare the Dream” succinctly captures this sense of joy and striving without resorting to historical cliché.  “Teresa dared the dream, (she) shows us the courage and daring we need to leave the comfort zone and the warrior energy required to keep our dream alive.  (She) often repeated: We must translate our dreams into deeds, our words into works, and our aspirations into action.” Together they place the College very much at the vanguard of a revitalised and relevant Catholic education system.

The central figure – also quite symbolically – can be freed from the formal element of the shield (below right) and sits equally as well in an independent and unbound form.  This extension of the central logo form will be used quite widely in school stationery, website identity, embroidery and other mediums.

The energy and growth that are presented here, are vital elements for the community in Noosa and the very presence of St Teresa’s College sends a positive message for future growth and development throughout the region.

 *Bielecki, Tessa.  Teresa of Avila:  Mystical Writings   Crossword Publishing Co, New York, 1994.