Community & Business
29 June, 2024
Student James speaks at Frontline Dinner
At Scripture Union’s Frontline Dinner last week Oakey State High School student James Cowling spoke about the positive impact the Chaplaincy program has had on his transition to High School.
James charmed the crowd with anecdotes about how his Chaplain, Yolande Robinson from Oakey High had helped him out of his shell.
He regaled the audience with stories about his chess-playing abilities and how, with the help of Yolande, he had led a drive to send toys to families in Tara affected by the bushfires.
The local district was represented by two tables including a whole table taken up by Kingsthorpe State School, whose chaplain Joe Smith addressed the audience briefly.
A chaplain is defined by the Education Department as a person who is recognised by the local school, it’s community and the AEA (Australia’s Economic Accelerator) as having the skills, experience and qualifications to deliver the approved work plan activities to the school and its community.
The Toowoomba Region has an above average proportion of school chaplains in schools, who are supported through fixed Government funding and donations from supporters.
Sports chaplain for the Queensland Firebirds Ray Moaga, was the main guest speaker for the occasion and spoke about his chaplaincy work in schools in Logan.
Chappy Don Truss spoke about journeying through grief with a migrant family who had lost a child.
Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff opened the evening by paying tribute to the work that school chaplains do in the education system.
The Deputy Mayor said she had become more aware of the impact of trolling and cyberbullying on young people through social media after the abuse she had copped on social media relating to an admission she had taken a photo of Cr Kerry Shine while he was asleep.
“Last week I referred myself to the Office of the Independent Assessor over a photo of Cr Kerry Shine sleeping,” she said.
“I have received notice that the OIA has dismissed the complaint as my actions did not constitute a conduct breach or misconduct.
“Over the past week or so, amongst other things, I’ve been called a bitch and told that it would be better if I killed myself.
“Through it all I showed up to work every day and to every commitment: chairing meetings, attending community activities and speaking at events that I said I would.
“Thank you to the people who stood by me and supported me, including my colleagues.
“Those words don’t begin to cut it. Truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I will always remember your actions when others were piling on.
“And to my husband and children: I’m sorry you went through this too. I love you.”
