MONITOR
EDUCATION
Lilian Baylis Technology School & Hammersmith Academy Squash Falconer Presentations
I
n January of this year the Master, Michael Grant, was at a charity fund raiser at the Mansion House. The City Commissioner of Police, and many others, were planning a mass climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for local Tanzanian charities. Squash Falconer, part of the group that successfully climbed Kilimanjaro and raised $600,000, spoke at the event and Michael found her “truly inspirational”. On his suggestion, Liveryman George Kalorkoti, a sponsor governor at Lilian Baylis Technology School (LBTS), arranged for Squash to speak to Year 7 and 8 pupils at LBTS on the 15th April and the Hammersmith Academy on the 16th April. Squash is a young explorer and adventurer. She is the first British woman to ride a motorcycle to the base of Mont Blanc, climb to the summit and paraglide down. She has scaled Everest, cycled from Lands’ End to John O’Groats, and on the 1st May 2013 she is setting off around Europe on a world record breaking 3,000 mile journey on an ElliptiGO bicycle. The audience at each school numbered some 250 and George briefly introduced each talk with a few words about WCIT supSquash speaking to students and teachers at Hammersmith Academy, all equally port for the school. Squash’s presentation lasted for some 45 enthralled. minutes, and included video clips of her climbs of Mont Blanc and Everest. Feedback from the schools has included: Throughout the talk the pupils were absolutely riveted, and Squash’s decision to talk at the level of young adults was key to the success. “The impact of Squash’s speech has been amazing. It has really Each talk ended with a Q&A session lasting well over half an hour, inspired our students and has been talked about all week? ??BF?W&RvW&Rf"??&RVW7F???2F??F?W&Rv2F??RF??7vW"F?V??7V6?f?6??W"?B?W"&V6V?BgV?G&?6??rfVG2 *???F?27W?VB'?f??F????6???B??fW"?'&??&?v?F??r??vR`??7V6?f?6??W"&V????r?W"GfV?GW&W2B???&??2FV6?????w?66???????