Cape York Weekly FREE – #013 | Monday, November 30, 2020 Editorial: Troy Rowling – 0497 527 577 | news@capeyorkweekly.com.au
Christmas has arrived in Cape
Elliott Jamieson, 2, met Santa at the Weipa Community Christmas event on Saturday.
THERE’S less than four weeks until Christmas and the festive season is in full swing in Cape York. Weipa families got into the holiday spirit on Saturday with a Community Christmas morning, ahead of the town’s tree being lit up tomorrow night at Eat Street. Cape York Weekly also has a special Christmas feature which encourages shoppers to buy locally and support small businesses. All the coverage – INSIDE
Archie McNamee meets Santa for the first time.
Academy program to help mould future leaders
Clontarf given tick By TROY ROWLING
AN ambitious new initiative announced in Weipa on Friday aims to inspire young Indigenous men to become the next generation of community leaders. In a $3 million partnership between Western Cape Communities
Trust, Rio Tinto and the federal government, the Clontarf Foundation will establish an academy of achievement next year across the Western Cape College campuses. The Clontarf academy is a mentorship program that aims to build self-esteem and self-discipline among participating young Indig-
enous men to foster educational engagement, behavioural change and adaptive life skills. The brainchild of former AFL coach Gerard Neesham, the academy uses sport activities, especially rugby league, to motivate students to attend and remain at school and improve their life choices.
The voluntary program will be available from the second school term next year to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander males enrolled between Years 5 to 12. Clontarf Queensland manager Dan McNamee said the academy encouraged young Indigenous men to complete school, seek further
education, find meaningful employment and become role models in their communities. “We come in and partner with the teachers and families until we can become part of the fabric of the school community – like another school department,” he said. Continued – Page 2