Community & Business
4 February, 2022
PSHS new principal welcomed at Lions event
Approximately 30 people attended the Pittsworth and Millmerran Lions Club combined meeting at the Brookstead Hotel last Tuesday when they were able to meet Pittsworth State High School’s (PSHS) new Principal Daniel Lindenmayer who was a guest speaker at the event.
With close ties to both Pittsworth and Millmerran it was rather fitting that Mr Lindenmayer spoke at the meeting.
Raised on a grain and sheep property at Millmerran and educated at Millmerran State School and Pittsworth State High School, Mr Lindenmayer has come full circle, returning to Pittsworth this year, after much time away, to commence his new role as PSHS Principal.
Throughout his speech, Mr Lindenmayer shared a bit about his education and past roles, highlighting that he was PSHS School Captain in 2003 before he went on to complete his Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).
During his university years, he travelled to Indo- China to Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
While in Cambodia he volunteered at a local school which he said helped solidify his personal and educational philosophies to help those less fortunate due to poverty or isolation.
He had the chance to put these ambitions into practice and test his own resilience with a first-up posting to Dajarra, 150 kilometres south of Mt Isa, where three-quarters of the community is Indigenous.
Although it was a tough start, Mr Lindenmayer said it shaped him into the person he is today.
“The first six months were the the steepest learning curve of my life, but that helped mould me and I still have strong connections with Dajarra today,” he said.
Teaching positions followed in Boulia, Julia Creek and Kowanyama before becoming one of five deputies at Mt Isa’s high school of 1000-plus students.
In 2018, he became Principal of Hughenden P-12 School where his passion for rural and remote education continued in that leadership role.
Mr Lindenmayer said he’d spent his career providing country students with the best possible level of education and equipping them with skills they could further develop when they went away that they could then contribute to their local community when they returned.
Looking forward as he steps into his new role, Mr Lindenmayer said he is excited to be back in Pittsworth.
“Now I have to walk the talk,” he said.
“I am excited to lead PSHS in 2022 and relish the opportunity to once again familiarise myself with the Pittsworth community.”
Mr Lindenmayer and his wife Elizabeth, who teaches at Rangeville State School, have an eight-years-old daughter and a two-years- old son.
After Mr Lindenmayer’s speech the evening concluded with brief summaries of last year’s Lions activities in Pittsworth and Millmerran - impressive lists given the pandemic constraints.
