SWAN Hill College is proud of its long association with The Alpine School for Student Leadership (Alpine school).
The yearly camp is offered to Year 9 students and offers participants an eight-week getaway to focus on understanding themselves and developing their own personal strengths.
More than 150 students from the college have taken part in the state government initiative over the past 15 years.
Acting assistant principal Sarah Sutton said the benefits were not limited to the students who attended.
“The benefits extend to their family, our school and the wider community,” Ms Sutton said.
“The students have a regular daily routine including lessons, chores, relaxation and exercise time. “Through all of this they build their leadership capacity and understanding of their own personal strengths.
Elahna Porter has just returned from Alpine school and speaks highly of the experience.
The 15-year-old said she was surprised how quickly she adjusted to camp life, which included no mobile phone access for the entirety.
“I was surprised how well I learned to live independently away from home and family,” Elahna said.
“In fact, it has been more challenging adapting back to home life because I had really gotten used to the routines at Alpine.”
Routine includes 6am wake-up and six days of class lessons but lessons are not like normal school classes.
The school has nine learning concepts, and the classes relate to those areas: learning strategies, identity, collaboration, emotional management, empathy, health and wellbeing, environments, respectful relationships, and resilience.
Ms Sutton said those learnings returned to the school with the student.
“When our students return to us, they continue working as a group towards their community learning project,” she said.
“This is an idea they come up with which will benefit the community and is driven entirely by the students with support from the our school.
“In previous years our students have developed programs such as mindfulness and physical fitness sessions, public education about adopting shelter animals, wellbeing and positive relationships to support transition from primary school to high school.”
Year 11 student Lainee Box took part in the program in 2021 and agrees the experience gave her lifelong skills in leadership and confidence.
The 17-year-old has been elected as one of four school captains for 2024 and she attributes the Alpine school with having developed her confidence and leadership qualities.
The camp is held across five different locations and Lainee’s camp was Gnurad Gundidj, located in Glen Ormiton North.
“The camp was focused on our First Nations people, and we learnt a lot about indigenous culture, food and history,” she said.
“We got the chance to eat bush tucker and learned how to cook it ourselves in the wild.
“We also went surfing and hiking and lots of other activities which I enjoyed.
“I was rooming with someone from Sea Lake and we have remained close friends.”
The camp aims to match city kids with country kids as room-mates and Elahna said she would remain close with her Gisborne-based roomy.
Her cohort returned home last week and have already made plans to catch up as a whole group later this month.
Elahna lists white water rafting, caving, hiking, mountain biking and camping out as some of her favourite activities.
“We had to carry our own camping gear which weighed around 8kg and hike to the campsite and that taught me that I am capable of a lot more than I believed.
“The opportunity showed me I can be independent and I was able to stand in front of a room full of people I didn’t know and speak publicly.”
The mobile phone ban didn’t bother either girl despite their initial fears, and each said it was a little weird adjusting back to the constant contact when they returned home.
The Alpine school provided other opportunities to communicate with family and friends through email and an online diary they completed every day.
“I’d recommend it to anyone,” Lainee said.
“It was my first time away from home but I learnt so much about myself and I still use those things in my life today.”
Ms Sutton said that participation in the Alpine school was a fantastic opportunity for Year 9 students to develop their leadership skills, push themselves outside their comfort zones, and make friendships which lasted for years afterwards.
