Welcome back to the Around the Grounds update, lovely people of Elevate! We know many of you are enjoying your summer break, but we still wanted to take the chance to recognise those who helped us round out an awesome 2023 by delivering seminars and coaching sessions in December.
So, if you’re still enjoying some time off, kick back, relax, and take this opportunity to reflect on the final month of 2023 - and if you’re heading back into schools this week, we hope this inspires you to get in there and crush your first sems of 2024!
Team Australia
With most schools finishing up mid-way through December, it was a quieter month for Team Aus when it came to sems delivered, but as always, the amazing work of our presenting team means we have plenty to celebrate. So let's get started with our Australian Presenter of the Month...
Australian Presenter of the Month
Our Presenter of the Month for December is Wesley Henderson from team NSW!
Wesley nailed an awesome 99.12% average after running 14 sessions, with a teacher feedback score of 9.4. What a way to see off 2023!
But how does Wesley get such consistently wicked feedback? He was kind enough to tell us in his own words:
‘It’s no joke that everybody at Elevate is so caring, thoughtful, and loving. Our team is made up of so many people who have the most unique skill sets and are always willing to help out whenever you need. The biggest way I’ve grown as a presenter and a person is never being afraid to ask for help. Straight after debrief I LOVE a quick “Hey … really struggled with this today, what do you think I can do better for next time?” Because of this, a phenomenal tip I got when I first started presenting was to record every single seminar and try to listen back to as many as possible! It may be weird to listen to your voice to begin with, but so much growth happens when you can dissect, criticise, and improve on your seminars. When you’re in the moment it can be really easy to get into the groove of presenting and become oblivious to some obvious ways to improve - the power of listening back to recordings has been seminar-changing!’
Standout Presenter Feedback
Nick Geerling, Jono Yong & Grace Kim
‘Feedback from a staff member who sat with one group for their session was that the presenter was engaging - no mean feat in the afternoon session on a 36-degree day! The pitch was great and at the Year 9 into 10 level. Feedback was also given regarding the presenters' skills at identifying students who may affect engagement and drawing them into the presentation via direct contact - a number of staff commented on the presenter's abilities on this front.’
Damien Doowage, Wesley Henderson, Jaden Legaspi, Henry Beissel & Mikaela Jovanovski
‘Students found the presenters very engaging and student feedback was extremely positive.’
Henry Beissel, Josie Armstrong, Charlotte Woods, Hannah Roberts & Wesley Henderson
‘Your presenters are top tier and we really enjoyed having them. They are flexible and engaging which is critical in a complex school setting and the current education landscape around student attendance.’
Slack Channel Highlights
As the end of year approached, the Aus Slack channels started to look a little bare as our presenting team finished up for the break.
But there were still a couple of gems we wanted to share with you; check them out below.
Team VIC
From Team Vic, we have a great farewell selfie from Zac Broeren, as well as two goodbye posts from Nick Geerling and Oscar Drew, wishing all the best to Jono Yong and Sam Collins respectively after their final sems.
Team NSW
Team NSW shared an abundance of final sem snaps, with the ones above being posted by Mikaela Jovanovski, Rebecca Le and Jake James. Our Presenter of the Month, Wesley Henderson, went one step further and shared a video of some of the team ‘leaving an AMAZING 2023 behind’.
Team South Africa
It was a similar story in South Africa during last month; the wind down to an early finish for summer break meant the team didn’t deliver the same number of sems and coaching sessions as usual. So as a result, we don’t have a Presenter or Coach of the month for December. But before they headed off for the holidays, our South African team also held their National Awards, naming their Presenter, Coach, TL and Office Member of the year. You can check the winners out here, along with some photos of the event.
Team UK
Despite the Autumn term finishing up before the end of the month for the Christmas break, the UK team still managed to get 363 seminars under their belt before schools broke up. Hats off to you guys for managing to keep a total of 15,972 kids engaged during the end of year excitement!
And with the coaches pushing just as hard, there was some great feedback from students, teachers and parents, giving the UK team a strong finish for the year.
We’ve included some of the best pieces of this feedback in this month’s update – have a gander below to check it out.
UK Presenter of the Month
The UK Presenter of the Month for December is Nehemiah Yeboah who put in an absolutely mammoth effort for the final weeks of 2023.
Nehemiah delivered 23 fantastic seminars, securing an impressive stats figure of 99.64% and teacher feedback score of 9.08.
In the quote below, Nehemiah shares how he ensures that his workshops impress both students and teachers:
"I put myself in the shoes of the students, think about how I used to be and what I wanted to hear. I just try and relate to them as much as possible and make them smile."
Standout Presenter Feedback
Jack Hardman, Joshua Smith, Helen Wieland, Dominic Gilonis, Ebunoluwa Akinleye & Anna-Rose McChesney
‘The session went really well, [the presenters] engaged with students who wouldn't have normally engaged. Good to speak to the students after and hear the positive feedback.’
Stephanie Seidman
‘Steph was brilliant last week; please pass on my thanks to her.’
Johnston Tan Tze Chung
‘Big thanks to Johnston for his enthusiasm and flexibility today. He built a fantastic rapport with our students.’
‘Johnston was amazing! He was fun, articulate and informative. We would love to have him back to speak to both our Year 12 and 13 students.’
UK Coach of the Month
And now, onto our UK Coach of the Month, Charlie Scott!
Charlie has been doing some absolutely outstanding work with our coaching students over the past couple of months, having a real impact on their confidence and ability in exam preparation and study strategies.
The quote below from one of these students shows what a difference he’s been making:
‘A fantastic finish to my tetralogy of Elevate sessions! Charlie finished this off with memory, telling me about some revision methods that I can easily put into place and, easier still, remember the information! Thank you Elevate!’
Amazing job, Charlie – we’re looking forward to hearing more about your work with our coaching students in 2024!
Standout Coach Feedback
David Cook
‘Great session definitely helped me to understand what to do for exams in the future.’
Jumana Ali
‘Thank you very much! I enjoyed it a lot and found it very useful. I can see a change in my work!!’
End of Term Meet-Ups and Travels
To celebrate the end of the first academic term, each UK region got together for their EOT drinks. The Northwest team got particularly creative with their end-of-year reflection, with Deon creating a Spotify wrapped-style summary for the team – check it out below.
London
North West
South West
In December, two of our UK presenters also got the chance to present abroad; Jules Dudley hopped over to the Channel Islands to present in Jersey, while Nick Williamson went to deliver some Elevate magic to kids in Dubai...
Team US
Our wonderful US team stacked up the most seminars in December, completing 448 across the month – now that’s good going!
As well as leading the pack when it comes to delivery, the team also killed it when it came to sharing photos of their holiday season get-together, which was complete with some fantastic decs. Check out these pics below.
US Presenter of the Month
It’s Clarismar Peralta who is our well-deserving US Presenter of the Month for December, finishing the year with a month that included 15 seminars delivered, 98.82% average stats, and a teacher feedback score of 9.5.
Impressive numbers, Clarismar! Thanks for keeping the bar high!
All of our presenters have their own unique ways of ensuring they engage with students during seminars, and we asked Clarismar how she does it; this was her response:
‘The goal is to always deliver the message from my heart’.
US Holiday Get-Together
As promised, here we have some of the awesome photos of the US team’s festive get-together shared on Slack – as well as a bonus video of Moses grooving the night away.
Thanks for joining us for another Around the Grounds update, we hope you're looking forward to the year ahead as much as we are!
If you've got room for a little more Notes from HQ, you can Meet our UK GM, Lina, or take a look at the SA and Aus National Award Winners.
Comments