Mid Year Recap

We’ve hit the ground running in our second year as a program, expanding the number of schools engaged in our program to 30. We’ve been all across the southwest corridor of Queensland, going as far west as Laidley!

The facilities at our home turf, Totally Workwear Stadium, were put to good use, allowing students to experience the semi-professional sporting athlete atmosphere and engage with the program outside of their school environment.

RISING held its first UNISQ Day Out, that gave our students a real look at what is possible when looking at higher education and how to get there. The day covered a range of topics, such as: a Glimpse into Emergency Response – an immersive dive into paramedicine, Strength and Conditioning Laboratory Session, the Bones of the Matter and Speech Pathology, Language Matters.

We were also fortunate enough to be invited to attend Laidley State High School’s Close the Gap Day, which aimed to raise awareness about health disparities among Australia’s First Nations Peoples and to foster an understanding and solidarity of the challenges this group of people face.

RISING was also lucky enough to be able to attend Ferny Grove State School’s U8s Gala Day, which allowed us to inspire and interact with the students to encourage them to take part in sports to encourage healthy lifestyle choices amongst the youth.

Our RISING team have let us know their favourite moments of the year so far!

RYLEY JACKS, PARTICIPATION AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

“One of my highlights from the first half of 2024 would be, getting to start at one of our new schools, Browns Plains State High School.

Seeing them buy into the program throughout the term was great to see. At the end of the term the teachers and myself could really see massive improvements in the kid’s attendance and behaviour.”

MARIA GRAF, RISING AMBASSADOR

“My highlight so far in the program was when we were arriving at school and one of the students said excitedly ‘I was looking forward to this class, it’s my favourite part of school’. Maybe this sounds vague, but it’s really heart warming.”

NATALEA ELIAS, RISING AMBASSADOR

“My highlight of this year so far would have been the Ferny Groves under 8s gala day. I really enjoyed being at this event as it was a fun day and I enjoyed seeing the community come together. Seeing the joy on the students’ faces when they got the ball through our passing target was also very rewarding.”