Year 8 student Jade Wheeler, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of eight, recently began campaigning for improved teacher training in dyslexia education.
After advocating passionately to politicians and university vice-chancellors for the past several months, Jade has won the support of Education Minister Sue Ellery MLC who is helping promote her campaign to the Federal Minister for Education and WA universities.
Jade has previously spoken with Hon Dr Mike Nahan MLA (Member for Riverton/Shadow Minister for Planning; Asian Engagement) and was invited by UWA Vice Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater to meet with herself and a member of her team to further discuss the cause.
Jade’s campaigning began in Year 3 and, with the support of her parents and the College, has gained increased traction and attention over the past six years.
Jade has recently attracted media coverage in the West Australian Newspaper and on ABC Radio.
Leadership and the ability to work in a Team are two very important skills to have in life. Life is constantly changing and developing and through new experiences and opportunities, leadership, and the ability to work in teams are important skills to have.
This year I have developed my ability to work cohesively in a Team, developing my Leadership skills and improving through my actions with great confidence. Although I have had many opportunities to practice these skills in different situations, I believe one of the most valuable experiences this year that has taught me a lot about both being a Leader and part of a Team, was the 2020 year nine camp to Kalbarri.
My Camp group at the Beautiful kalbarri look out
Throughout our year nine camp there were many opportunities where I had to show Leadership. When I volunteered myself to organize and help out my group with food preparation, I showed leadership as I had to guide my fellow team mates to get all our food into the right boxes with the right quantities, making sure that we didn’t forget anything. I developed a good system where I gave each person a job and then asked them to report back to me, crosschecking each item on the list before we put it into the right boxes, overall a job well done. To make things fair, I had to distribute the food across the group, so everyone carried their share making sure we remembered everything. Each day I helped to distribute the food to smaller groups within our group, making sure that any groups with special dietary needs were given the correct food. Overall, this taught me a lot about being a good Leader, how to delegate to my team, be fair to everyone and get the job done.
Another great lesson I learned from this camp was how to work in a small team . Organizing our sleeping arrangements every night included setting our tents up and taking them down. Packing them up each morning and then distributing the parts to the members of our group so they could be transported to the next campsite. This had to be done as a Team, one person holding the poles while the other two clipped the tent to it to make it stable. We did the same dismantling the tents and cleaning them each time, rotating who carried what to the next camp, working as a team, and having things organized made this experience a positive one improving my communication skills and ability to work in a group.
Me and the rest of my group working together to set up our tents and help everyone else at Camp Kalbarri
The skills that I learnt on this camp through experience, have taught me that being confident and volunteering for things that are new and challenging teach you to be a good leader and Team member. Moving forward I realise that these skills will be are transferable into whatever path I choose to do in life, whether it be part of a ballet Company, or theatre production, Leadership and Team work will be needed.
I have been dancing since I was 4 years old. I have improved with age and with confidence in ballet and I have started to do competitions. I remember one time I had to leave camp early to do a dance competition. The day before leaving camp we did a 6-kilometer walk carrying all our belongings. I got home that night shattered, tired and aching, hardly able to feel my legs. I was so tired I went to bed. waking up the next day just as tired, I was so excited about the dance competition. I wanted to win so bad and I thought I could too. I had a fixed mind set thinking that winning was all that mattered. I went to my studio to practice barely able to get through one run of my dance. My legs were shaking, I tried over and over again not willing to leave until I had it perfect. I wanted to win! I needed my routine to be perfect. In the end, mum had to make me leave as I was exhausting myself and getting frustrated. I went home so tired and upset but still with a fixed mindset thinking I would win. After relaxing for a while we left for the competition. I performed the best I could considering how tired I was. Then it came time for the judge to adjudicate. I didn’t place. I was so devastated! That night I felt so sad and upset, mum comforted me and told me that it should never be about winning it should be about taking part, dancing for the love of it and enjoying it. I needed to remember why I dance and it was because I loved it made people happy. Mums advice made me change my mindset. It made me realize that I had just ruined this experience for me. Instead of just trying my best and enjoying myself and listening to feedback and why I lost as a way to improve, I took it as I wasn’t good enough and didn’t try hard enough. Remembering that it was only one person’s opinion was also important for me to move forward. I would like to say thanks to my mum for her reminding me of all the things I missed out on, the reasons I love to dance and for changing my mindset to think positively. I now enjoy dance competitions and take them as a learning experience.
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