Leadership is... 

 Our Year 6 Student and Tribal Leaders were posed this question as they began their day at the CEN Student Leader Conference at Donvale Christian College on Monday 17th February. With 300 other student leaders from 20 other Christian Schools, our leaders were inspired, encouraged and challenged to influence those around them with integrity. With practical strategies and personal stories, our speakers shared their wisdom to help our students grow personally and also how to embrace those around them with kindness and love. Reminders about being made in the image of God affirmed our students, then they were encouraged to dream big and use their gifts to serve God and those around them. What a privilege it was to share in this day with our students. We know that God has great plans for them as they use their leadership and personal gifts to serve those around them.

Isaiah Greaves (Student Leader)

The sound of the students cheering filled the room as I walked through the blue double doors. The room was filled with seats going on a slope, kind of like a movie theatre. But the screens on the sides of the stage were counting backwards from 5 instead of a movie. The music playing in the background was energetic and made me feel like I could do anything. I could already see the amazing speakers sitting in the front row, including Sam (the founder of Silly Stories for Kids). I already knew today was going to be a good day.

Harin Park (Student Leader)

‘Thump, Thump, Thump.’ My heart was beating as we entered the giant room. Everyone's voices were heard even though there were about 300 people there. Excitement and happiness was thundering through my veins, along with nervousness.  We sat down and started to listen to people talking about their faith story. They were so inspiring. My favourite thing was when they said that we are never too young to lead. It ended up to be the best day of my life.

Levi Smit (Tribal Leader) & Taia O'Dwyer (Tribal Leader)

When the student leaders went to the Student Leader summit, we met Sam Ramsden, Michelle Mitchell, Justine Flynn and Nathan 'Dubsy' Want. They all gave us inspirational advice from the brand Thankyou, to starting a podcast, or becoming a leader, we really enjoyed it and had fun. Donvale Christian College was very clean and welcoming. There were 20 Schools there, and everyone met different people that were not from our school. Everyone had lots of fun.

Sammi Stekelenburg (Student Leader) & Zoe Knapman (Tribal Leader)

We all got onto the bus to go to Donvale where the conference was, it was a 30 minute drive. When we arrived, there were people from Donvale greeting us with signs. Some said 'free hi-fives' and 'Welcome to Donvale', then we walked down the hill to the gym where all of the schools were.

We went to sign in and all got orange bands, then we made our way into the gym where we sat down and were waiting for the speakers to start. It was phenomenal, all the guest speakers were absolutely incredible.

Our favourite speaker was Sam Ramsden from Silly Stories for Kids because he told us about his journey to get where he is now.

Joshua Wenger (Student Leader)

Monday, February 17th 2025, was a day to remember, because we went to the leadership conference at Donvale. It was a day that I enjoyed and loved every minute of it, because of the worship, the activities, and most of all, the speakers (the people, not the Bluetooth ones). They were dynamic and I was hooked onto every word that they said. The speakers explained how they had gotten to do what they did. The first speaker, Nathan 'Dubsy' Want, an author and public speaker,  told us that we need to be servants and that we need to stand out. He then told us a story about standing out that had happened to him. He was AWESOME!!!! Next, we had Michelle Mitchell, an educator, author, and another speaker. She spoke about friendships, reality vs the stereotypes. She said that we need to be soft with our words and be caring and supportive of our friends. She, too, was also an awesome speaker. After that there was Sam Ramsden, the podcaster of 'Silly Stories For Kids'. He told us that we are all created by God and made in the image of God. He told us a small snapshot of his young life, and told us how his gift was to make up stories on the spot. Then, to absolutely nobody’s surprise, he told a silly story. Then last but DEFINITELY not least, was Justine Flynn, the Co-founder and director of Thankyou. She told us that she and her husband started the company as a water-bottle company so that they could raise money for the people in other countries that don’t have water, but she said that there were a lot of setbacks, a lot of failures, but God helped them through it all, and that now they have been able to give 18.5 million dollars to causes that help the world. It was the best leadership conference I've ever been to.  

Mani Lusk (Tribal Leader)

On Monday the Year 6 leaders  went to a leadership conference at Donvale Christian College. It was a very memorable day; there were 20 schools there and 300 leaders. It was really fun and there were lots of activities, breaks, worship, and best of all speakers.

The first speaker was ‘Dubsy’. ‘Dubsy’ is a public speaker who is passionate about teaching kids about leadership and God. He talked about what leadership is and how we can be good leaders. The second speaker was Michelle Mitchell who is an educator and public speaker. Michelle talked about relationships and how we can keep healthy relationships. Sam Ramsden, the creator of the ‘Silly Stories for Kids’ podcast, was the third speaker. He talked about his life and that we are all made in the image of God. Justine Flynn, the co-owner of Thankyou was the last speaker and she spoke about how she got into business and how she and her husband created Thankyou. Thankyou is a business created to help people from extreme poverty.

I think the main takeaway from the conference was that leadership is to influence and to never give up on your dreams.

Blessing Dawttha Rahtin (Student Leader)

On the 17th of February, 2025, the leaders went to the 2025 leadership conference. After we arrived we were handed a handbook to take notes on. After that we were walking to our seats where 20 schools were seated waiting. All the leaders were waiting for 3 minutes and then sang 2 worship songs. After that we had our speakers come and talk to us. First we listened to Nathan Dubsy where he talked about how we can be a leader when we are young. Secondly, we listened to Michelle Mitchell and she talked about how we are not perfect. After Michelle we had Sam Ramsden come to speak to us about how we are serving God with our gifts. Last of all we listened to the co-owner of Thankyou, Justine Flynn and she talked about dreaming big. I really enjoyed my time at the conference and meeting other leaders from other schools!

Alyssa Reimer (Tribal Leader)

The leadership conference for 2025 was held on the 17th of February at Donvale Christian College. There were over 300 students there and 20 schools were represented. When we arrived we were each given a handbook to take notes in, and we walked into the multipurpose hall where the speakers were going to give their speech.  Throughout the day we received a speech from Nathan ‘Dubsy’ Want who taught us to lead by example, Michelle Mitchell, who taught us that even though we aren’t perfect we can still be a good leader, Sam Ramsden who taught us to be ourselves, and Justine Flynn, who taught us to dream big and make a difference. We had the opportunity to meet leaders from other schools, and make friends with them during break times. It was an inspiring and uplifting experience, and one that has made an influence on hundreds of students from around the area.

MECS Matters

Head, Heart, Hand

Newsletter 2, Term 1 · 27 Feb 2025

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