Community & Business
15 April, 2022
Small school boy takes to the big city
IF TAKING on the role of school captain wasn’t a huge enough responsibility, Julatten State School’s Tate Arnold travelled to Brisbane recently to represent his small school in front of some of the biggest in Australia.
The Halogen Leadership Conference is an annual event held for leaders, prefects and captains and is designed to benefit any students wanting to increase their leadership skills.
Acting principal Sarah Mason was thrilled to have Tate go down to the event and believes it has helped him grow as a leader for their small bush town.
“I am so proud of our students to be so willing to and excited to represent our school in our state’s capital,” she said.
“Being in a regional area, the ability to participate in extra-curricular excursions, sporting events and camps are limited, as time, money and distance and restrictions significantly impacts on the viability of attending such events.”
Tate learned a lot of things over the seminar, returning home with new knowledge and the experience of a lifetime.
He was shocked when he found out he would be on a plane down to the “big smoke” and was surprised that Julatten would be represented.
“I found out about a month ago I was going to Brisbane, and I was surprised because our school is so small and is being represented in the capital,” he said.
Although learning was his first priority, he made time for a few games of handball and met some new friends.
“We sat and listened to the Governor, two writers, Cate Campbell and Lachie Smart, who is the youngest person to fly the world solo,” Tate said.
“My biggest highlight was Lachie Smart’s story about his flight and playing handballs during the breaks.
“I learned that to succeed, you need to fail first and not to be arrogant.”
Tate has since returned to Julatten to enjoy his two-week holiday before returning to school to share with his peers what he learned on the special trip.
