26 April 2024
In the lead up to our Warrnambool College Alumni Open Day on Monday, we caught up with Warrnambool College Royalty - Matthew ‘Monkey’ Monk! A shy kid that started Warrnambool High School to confident Warrnambool College Captain in 1994….
Almost thirty years after finishing school Matthew Monk, from the class of 1994, credits Warrnambool High School for kickstarting his “appetite for performance”.
The breakfast radio announcer and emcee came to secondary school as a shy kid but his confidence grew over the years.
He credited the late Bev Melican, who encouraged him to join school debating and eisteddfod competitions, for laying his foundations in public speaking.
“I was an invert, an inwardly shy sort of kid from Panmure, from a school with a total of 20 kids,” Monkey said.
“I always had a zest for showmanship and if you look at my life to date and what I’ve been able to achieve, or do in terms of radio and MC work, it certainly started at a humble little room at Warrnambool High School and ended up on a stage debating or doing an impromptu speech and learning how to speak in front of people.
“If you do that through your school it becomes second nature. As people can attest to, public speaking is still something that people grapple with and don’t like to do, but it’s always come naturally to me.
Matt, or Monkey as he is better known, was one of four Warrnambool College captains in 1994, following the amalgamation of Warrnambool High School and Warrnambool North Technical School.
They were the first school captains of the new-look Warrnambool College.
“On reflection you were part of history,” Matt said.
His comments come ahead of the Warrnambool College Alumni Open Day on Monday, April 29 where Monkey will share some of his memories from the time with attendees.
He said along with fellow school captains Megan Reeve, Mark Prout and Jodie Wickham, the group worked together to build unity at the newly-formed Warrnambool College.
Monkey said he didn’t take the role of captain too seriously. “A few of the boys voted me in because they thought the speeches might be entertaining. I tried to put some zest into those.”
In year 11 media studies, Monkey made a video documentary called ‘The Techers are Coming’ referring to the North Tech students as were affectionately known at the time.
“We probably looked down our noses at them because it wasn’t our school,” he said. It was next door but in some ways it was almost Berlin Wallish, there was a certain corridor that was the boundary,” he said.
“It may as well have been the Berlin Wall or scaled with barbed wire and spikes, if you went past there you may never return. We built it up.”
Despite his documentary depiction, he said the amalgamation went smoothly and it added to the Bullants interschool football team’s success.
“We picked up some handy footballers out of it from North Tech too. That era we won the Herald Sun Shield which was terrific. That was a great way to start the union.”
The team, coached by Peter Auchettl, made it to the grand final “whopping” Corio at Geelong’s Kardinia Park 20.13 to 0.4.
Monkey said he’d made lifelong friends from his time at the college. He has fond memories of the relationships he’s built with students and the many staff who’d made an impact, especially Mary Pendergast, who he said was a mentor, and Ray Welsford who was his “hero”.
“It was great time,” he said of his final year of school. “It’s a time that coincides with tripping over love, learning to drive, having a drink and starting the rest of your life, so it was a pretty special time.
“It gives you good grounding for what comes next. They were fond years to reflect on. There were some really good learnings from people – it sort of struck you later in life.
“We had some really talented students who have gone on to do amazing things.”
Professionally, Monkey has been a breakfast radio announcer intermittently for the best part of 22 years. He has Emceed hundreds of events, including a 17-year relationship with the McLaren Formula 1 Racing Team.
Up until recently Monkey was The Flying Horse Bar & Brewery owner and manager, a role he’d held since it opened in 2008.
As well as a host of other jobs and appointments he has been active in the community with several years’ experience as a football and junior basketball coach.
The proud dad said his greatest achievement though was his marriage to wife Tania and his children Harrison, 25, Amelia, 23, Layla, 20, and Poppy, 14.
Monkey said ironically, on the 30th anniversary of finishing year 12, he was now studying to become a counsellor and psychotherapist.
Registration is still open over the weekend for our Warrnambool College Alumni Open Day. If you attended Warrnambool College, Warrnambool High School or Warrnambool North Technical College, as a student or staff member, and you’re in town next week for the races, we warmly welcome you back to come and check out Warrnambool College as it is today! Come for a guided tour from 4pm, explore our history and reconnect with old friends, stay for refreshments until 6pm. Register by clicking on this link:
https://compasstix.com/event/70da0a92-005e-4548-8c7e-c7586c6a827c
Don’t miss this opportunity, coinciding with the May Racing Carnival. #reminisce #memories #WarrnamboolCollege #WarrnamboolHighSchool #WarrnamboolNorthTechnicalCollege #Alumni #wewelcomeyouback #AlumniStudentsandStaff