With the right culture and values being such an important part of education, Halls Head Community College in Mandurah (50km south of Perth, WA) has kicked off the year with a team building and leadership program for all Year 11 and 12 students.
When school coordinator Christine Andrews contacted Sports Challenge (SC) chief executive officer Garry Tester, her mandate was very clear: access to SC world first experiential mentoring programs, combined with objective audits of the students’ skill sets.
With more than 120 students in attendance, SC’s ‘A team’ of 16 mentors delivered the program, lead by former Wildcats Basketball coach CJ Jackson, London Olympics kayak finalist Jesse Phillips, plus London Olympics 400m runner Ben Offereins.
The students completed a full day of activities from cognitive to ‘hands on’, completing individual debriefs of leadership skills, embracing and demonstrating desired behaviours flowing on from the school values, and most importantly having a fun day while learning from a group of passionate and well trained professional mentors.
As Year 12 student Phil said, “I never thought I would be so motivated to start my school year. My mentor has given me a real focus on wanting to achieve and I can keep in contact with CJ on the Sports Challenge website any time I want…how cool is that?”
