We’ve heard it a lot in the media – there’s a mining ‘boom’… there’s a mining ‘bust’… mining is our country’s future… mining is our country’s collapse.

Whatever your view, I think many forget that there are stories behind the headlines – stories of towns and people who live amongst the changes.

One such town is Chinchilla (300km west-northwest of Brisbane), and I had the privilege of visiting the locals there in August. I heard first-hand about how the community, including the schools, changed as locals welcomed mining families into the area.

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For two Indigenous boys at Baralaba State School, life has taken a huge turn in the last 12 months thanks to the Limitless program for at-risk young people.

Limitless, rolled out for the first time in Central Queensland in Semester 2 of 2013, is an interactive, adventure-based, team-building program. It is suited for ‘at-risk’ students, those more suited to hands-on learning, and students aspiring to grow in leadership skills.

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As I sat on the train yesterday morning, riding into work, I found myself watching a group of high school girls – all had their phones out as they chatted about a friend’s Instagram post the night before. They were laughing, talking about boys, completely oblivious to everyone else.

This whole scene got me thinking… I was in the same position as them only eight years ago, wearing the same school uniform. Did I used to act the same? Did I struggle with the same things as them? Was I just as self-conscious? Just as unsure of myself?

My answer: Probably yes.

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It’s become a familiar image on our TV screens – an ambulance is parked on a street, with its red and blue lights reflecting in the window of a night club or bar. Someone is lying on the ground, knocked unconscious, with emergency crews surrounding them.

The media has been a platform for discussions about ‘King Hits’ and ‘Coward’s Punches’, especially in the last year. Many people are asking what’s to blame for the unnecessary tragedies we’ve heard about – is it alcohol?  Our hyper-masculine culture? Our legal system? Or are boys ‘these days’ just out of control?

Whatever the answers are, young men and violence continue to be closely associated with one another.

But it’s an association that doesn’t have to exist.

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Can you imagine going to school every day in the middle of a rainforest? What about in a small farming community? Or in the midst of an Indigenous community, or a remote little town on the coast?

David Kamholtz went to a school in every one of those places in the last week — and he’ll do it all again next week as well.

David is the school chaplain in four communities in the Cape — and although all are uniquely different, they are all bustling with energetic youth. (more…)

Across Queensland, school chaplains are working within Indigenous communities, encouraging children and youth to stay closely connected to their native culture.

Biloela chaplains Nigel Krueger and Lyn Webb place a high priority on working closely with local elders to ignite an excitement in young people to learn more about their heritage.

They are helping children like Brendan*, who lives with his uncle and aunty after both his parents died. “It’s a very messy situation for him at home, and you wonder how he’s been able to go through all that and come through the other end,” says Nigel, Biloela State High School’s chaplain.

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This year’s National Families Week – from 15th to 21st May – is themed ‘Stronger Families, Stronger Communities’.

It highlights the relationship between families and communities – families play an important role in shaping communities, and community wellbeing is enhanced by family wellbeing.

We asked Ruth Limkin – Executive Officer to the Speaker of Queensland Parliament; author; former Courier-Mail social commentator; and SU QLD Board Member – to share her thoughts about how chaplains help families and communities:

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School lunches are busy, and that’s just getting them made and packed (and actually taken) in the morning. School lunch breaks, as a student can be something you look forward to all morning or something you dread depending how your peer relationships are going.

SU QLD chaplains around the state run lunch programs that give students a safe place to spend their lunch hours. A space providing a range of activities to choose from and creating an atmosphere of acceptance that allows social skill building to be encouraged.

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Matt Brady, Queensland’s longest-serving chaplain, has seen a lot of heartache in the 19 years he’s been a chappy.

But he’s also seen a lot of hope injected into the lives of broken and hurting teens, many of whom have no one but their chaplain to talk to.

“There was a girl many years ago who joined a program I run for at-risk students,” Matt says. “She found out her whole life was built on a lie because her parent’s ‘perfect’ marriage didn’t work out and they separated. She started drinking too much and abusing her body in other ways. (more…)

It takes a special sort of person to put on their ‘chappy’ shirt every morning, walk out their front door, and enter through the school gates with the purpose of encouraging and supporting children.

Just for laughs, we asked chaplains to write job advertisements for the role. Here’s what some of them came up with:
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