By Danielle Kutchel
Students at St Francis Xavier’s Officer campus are honing their leadership skills in a new school program.
The program sees students purposefully develop their leadership skills through a series of focused projects and discussions with invited community leaders.
The first session was with Western Bulldogs AFLW coach Nathan Burke.
On Thursday 1 April, Gembrook MP Brad Battin visited the school to meet a cohort of year 9 students, where he spoke about his personal leadership experience as a small business owner, police officer and politician.
Describing the visit as “a pleasure”, Mr Battin said the students were “very receptive”.
“We discussed the key to good leadership is communication, respect, and surrounding yourself with people that will challenge you to be your best,” he said.
“Wanting to make a difference for the youth in our community is the reason I got into politics and being able to have honest conversations and share some of the lessons I have learned through my journey with students is always rewarding.”
A representative of St Francis Xavier said Mr Battin’s visit covered preparation, the expectations and responsibilities of being a leader and the importance of serving the community.
