By LIA SPENCER
AFTER a year of intense training and fund-raising, a group of students tested themselves with a daunting challenge they wouldn’t find in any classroom.
On 17 September, two teachers from Fountain Gate Secondary College and six students from Year 10 to Year 12, had a 12-day expedition which included hiking the Kokoda Track to remember and pay tribute to Australian soldiers. The group were joined by three adult helpers and two teachers from another school.
The Kokoda Track is a 100km track through the Owen Stanley Rangers which is made up of jungle and dense forest that links the northern beaches of Papua New Guinea to naval ports in the South. Many Japanese and Australian soldiers died along the track, both in battle and from malaria.
The Kokoda Track School Expeditions have been specifically designed to embrace the curriculum standards and values that every school and student endeavours to achieve which covers leadership, geography, history, science, responsibility, cultural diversity, organisation, personal and physical challenges and more.
The adventure was initiated by physical education teacher Steven Kehayas and assisted by fellow physical education teacher Paul Broecker.
Mr Broecker said it was a gruelling task to prepare for the adventure but was thrilled with the results. The trained every Wednesday at school for 12 months, went on weekend hikes and conducted other weekly training.
They had sponsors, including major sponsor Berwick Nissan, but also conducted barbecue fund-raisers and sold chocolates and cans of drinks to raise money for the trip.
“It was a huge amount of commitment and training,” Mr Broecker said.
“But the students were fantastic. They are top notch and well beyond their years in age.”
The group, organised through No Roads Expedition, started their trip with a stay in Kagi village where they went to church, visited with locals and met one of the oldest living Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel s- a group of Papua New Guinean people who assisted and escorted injured Australian soldiers down the Kokoda Track.
The students and teachers also gave a school gifts of sports equipment, stationary and calculators.
They then completed the gruelling 96-kilometre Kokoda Track.
Mr Broecker said the hike was a huge challenge, but was proud of the group for conquering it.
“It was very hard- physically and psychologically. There were so many hills and it didn’t seem to end, but everyone was such a good team player and it was a huge reward in the end,” he said.
“Everything went smoothly and we all finished. The students spoke about how it opened their eyes and was such a rewarding experience.”
