The latest crop of Central Coast Kokoda Youth Leaders has returned from Papua New Guinea after successfully completing the Kokoda Trail.
This year, Henry Kendall High School’s Adrian Crnalic, St Joesph’s College’s Brooke Chilvers and St Edward’s College’s Keegan Heeber all took part in the Kokoda Youth Leadership Challenge after being selected by representatives of the Gosford RSL Club.
The Kokoda Youth Leadership Challenge (KYLC) is a peer group leadership program established by the RSL and Services’ Clubs Association in 2004 and overseen by the KYLC Benevolent Fund.
The program was developed by Charlie Lynn of Adventure Kokoda, and involves an arduous 10 day trek across the original Kokoda Trail, with presentations at significant battle sites and discussions on sacrifice, courage, mateship, endurance and leadership.
Designed to connect Australian students with their nation’s wartime history, the challenge provides participants with a practical leadership experience based on the achievements and sacrifice of Australian diggers during the Kokoda campaign. The trio took part in the challenge over the October school holidays.
Henry Kendall High School Principal, Andrew Backhouse, said taking part in the KYLC was a significant achievement for all students involved and extended his thanks to the Gosford RSL for enabling one of his students to take part. “Adrian is the sixth Henry Kendall High School student to have taken part in this program, ” Backhouse said.
Source: Newsletter, Oct 27 Andrew Backhouse, Henry Kendall High School