School leaders scale new heights at Kapooka

It’s a chilly eight degrees at Kapooka and freezing rain drops have begun to fall around a steel platformed abseiling tower.

For the group of teenagers at the top, decked out in camo and contemplating a 30-m trip to the bottom via rope, the weather is the least of their worries.

The year 11 students from several local high schools are at the base for an “Adventurous Training” activity with the Army as part of the Committee 4 Wagga’s School Leaders Program.

Hannah McDowell from Wagga Wagga Christian College is yet to take her turn to repel down the tower.

“‘I’m still a little bit nervous looking at the height of it,” she says with a laugh.

“I like watching everyone go down and everyone I’ve talked to says it’s a really good experience. I’m excited!”

Classmate Hayden Banton has just made the vertical journey and says it was a scary first step backwards off the tower.

“I think the anticipation of being at the top was almost worse than actually going down,” he says.

“My heart rate was definitely a lot higher!”

The students were challenged to both climb and descend the abseiling tower with the help of their friends and under the watchful eye of Army instructors.

“It’s a teamwork thing; it’s not all just myself in this,” Hayden says.

“I’ve got the breakers that are ready, they’re catching me if I do mess up – or I’ve got the Army people at the top ready to help me out.

“I can push myself to go that extra mile when I have the group behind me telling me to go further.”

Colonel Andrew Deacon is the commandant of the Kapooka Military Area and says the exercise is all about learning what you are capable of.

“An activity like this has a really high perceived risk, but really low actual risk,” he explains.

“It creates that opportunity for people to experience a challenging circumstance that they can push through, realise that they can actually do it and dig deep.”

Colonel Deacon also says it’s a great way for the Army to reengage after COVID.

“We’ve been pretty restricted in what we’ve been able to do so being able to bring the community back in and do more of these activities is fantastic,” he says.

The School Leaders Program is now in its seventh year and Committee 4 Wagga’s Michelle Ford says it’s all about inspiring a new generation of regional ambassadors.

“I’ve seen them grow in confidence and their teamwork with each other, trusting each other and trusting in their own abilities,” she says.

“They have a lot of fun and if they put in the work, they definitely get the results out of this program.”

Hannah McDowell agrees that the students have been encouraged through the regular meetings and events.

“We started as a group who didn’t really know anyone else and we’ve all come together and grown as a group,” she says.

“We got to learn and develop as leaders and worked on public speaking and things like that.”

Hayden Banton says it’s helped him become more outgoing and involved at school.

“Talking to people I don’t usually talk to or just doing announcements or helping teachers out…” he says.

“It’s not just here that we’re getting help; it’s helping out in the whole of life.”