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Hi All
You may or may not have heard that Childers State School now has a Chaplain - that Chaplain is me!! My name is Luke Marjoram. I'm a young and jumping 27 years old and looking forward to all that I will learn and experience in my years here.
I have been a Youth and Kids Club leader for many years for the Kawana Waters Uniting Church, I've risen through the ranks of the Boys Brigade to the rank of Warrant Officer involving a lot of study and the organisation of games, studies for badges, drill work (marching) and expedition aid.
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Before coming to Childers to be the Chaplain, or Chappy as so many have now dubbed me, I worked at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, firstly as a cleaner then on the safari shuttle as a driver/host, so if you're thinking of visiting there give me a yell and I can still let you know what to expect! I have also worked as a landscaper and a nurseryhand (the plant type not the kid type) and I was a member of the 9th Royal Queensland Regiment, an Army Reserve Infantry unit, where I completed my Lance Corporal Training.
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I have been asked by several people - parents, teachers and students (yep, students are people), "So, just what does a Chaplain do?" Well, I'll try to explain.
Firstly, I am not a teacher or teacher aide. I do not have the qualifications to do those jobs (my wife does though, and loves her work). I am not a counsellor, guidance officer, psychiatrist, psychologist or any sort of professional doctor. I am not a pastor, preacher, priest, monk or religious education teacher. I am not here to teach the Bible. I am not here to get your children into a church.
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I am a Chappy, I am a Christian. I do go to church, (Childers Wesleyan). I work with the students to promote good decision making. (No don't knock Bob out just because he smells funny, etc) I start by getting to know them and them me. We play a bit of sport, exchange a friendly wave, have a quick chat in the playground, offer a helping hand with some reading or spelling and I go on camps (when the principal lets me).
I let them know I care about how they feel, what they do and who they are.
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If a student is feeling bullied, threatened, treated unfairly, or if they are hurting they can come to me to talk. If they are having problems with fitting in or feeling upset about anything, wether at home or at school, they can come and talk to me. I am not just here for the students either. I will happily sit down with a parent or teacher to talk with them too.
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I am answerable to many people and organisations. I am not a "free agent". I have to abide by the rules of the school, the rules of Scripture Union (the guys who employ me) and the requests of my Local Chaplaincy committee. This committee is made of up of community members plus the principals of both the Primary and High schools.
If you have any questions for me regarding what I do, I am at the school from around 08:30 every morning to about 15:30 (3:30pm) every afternoon, Monday to Friday.
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See you in the playground!!!!
Chappy.
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