School Captains' Conference

On Monday 24 May, the school captains were very fortunate to attend the Halogen Young Leaders Conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre. 

This is an annual event, held nationally, where young leaders come together in their capital city to build their knowledge and understanding about leadership. The conference exists to inspire and influence a generation of young people to lead themselves and others well.

Each of the guest speakers had their own messages to share, based on their own personal experiences. Our school captains will share with you something from each of the speakers:

Calvin: 

The first speaker we heard from was Lachie Smart. At the age of 18, he was the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe in a solo aircraft (plane). Some of the most important lessons he spoke to us about were: ‘Setbacks or failures are a path to success.’

Monako: 

One of the guest speakers was Jimmy Rees. Some of you may know him as Jimmy Giggle from Giggle and Hoot, a popular kid’s television show on ABC Kids. Jimmy is an actor/ comedian. After 10 years on the show, he decided to move on and now posts many funny videos on YouTube. His main lessons were;

If you’re passionate about something, be vocal about it, do it and be honest and be true with yourself.

Audrey: 

Another speaker we listened to was Josh Pyke. He is a musician and an author. Josh wrote a children’s book called, ‘The Incredible Runaway Snot.’ He also has an Aria award.

Some of his most important lessons were:

- Admit to your mistakes

- Recover strong

- Don't walk past a problem

- Put your best foot forward

Bimal: 

Jordan Lewis, who is a former AFL player, was another speaker. He played for Hawthorn and Melbourne and achieved many awards, including four premierships with Hawthorn and a Best and Fairest in 2012. Jordan talked to us about how you have to make sacrifices if you want to be successful and how there's always room for improvement. He also told us about how he had to overcome lots of hurdles, but he always came back stronger than ever. He wrapped it up with his most important lesson, which was about empowering others and, especially as a leader, being able to rely on others to take responsibility and action during big moments; whether it’s in a high pressure footy game or making a big decision for your school or maybe even your country.