Hello Team Elevate! Welcome to the November edition of our Around the Grounds update! We hope you’re getting in the festive spirit now we’re in the month of December, but if you’re not quite there yet, we’ve got plenty of feel-good content for you in this month's blog.
And speaking of feel-good content, we’ll now be including highlights and achievements from our fantastic coaching teams in our updates from here on out. So if you’re one of our awesome student mentors, make sure you’re checking in each month to see if you’re featured in our standout feedback or coach recognition sections!
Without further ado, let's take a look at what we’ve got to shout about from the past 4 weeks...
TEAM AUSTRALIA
We’ve got some great pics and moments to share from the Aus team this month, as some presenters finish up their final sems for the year and everyone celebrates a great 2023 at End of Year Drinks.
But at Elevate, we work just as hard as we play, and the Aus team’s November stats show they’ve definitely been putting in the hours: this month they delivered 445 sessions, helping a total of 19580 kids.
Presenter of the Month
The Aus Presenter of the Month for November is Aakanksha Kandula
from the NSW team! Aakanksha racked up a 98.23% average stats figure after running 11 sessions with a teacher feedback score of 9.67. Amazing work, Aakanksha.
Below you can read a short quote from Aakanksha on how she keeps the standard so high when it comes to presenting seminars:
'It’s definitely the wonderful and amazing people around me that allow me to do my best on this job. I couldn’t imagine a better group of people to work with - I get excited to share all my happy moments with them and can always count on encouragement and support after the tougher times. This support system constantly believing in me and pushing me to do even better next session is the reason that I’m able to walk-in and look at each and every seminar as a new challenge and opportunity because no matter what happens - I'll never have the same exact seminar twice, and that's what makes it so exciting!'
Standout Presenter Feedback
Ethan Marsden
‘Presenter was well prepared with excellent delivery...had the students eating out of his hand.’
Amy Cooper
And a special shoutout to Amy, who was mentioned by name in not one, but three pieces of great feedback this month:
‘Students were engaged throughout the sessions. Their feedback supported this. I was especially pleased with the engagement of our Year 10 students. Well done, thank you Amy.’
‘Amy was great today and should be commended.’
‘Everything went well, Amy did a cracking job.’
Coach of the Month
And it’s Meghan Hocking who is named the first Around the Grounds Coach of the Month!
Meghan, from team NSW, secured a fantastic average feedback score of 9 out of 10 from both parents and students this month, making her a worthy winner of this month’s title.
Well done, Meghan, great work this month!
Standout Coach Feedback
Gaby Macready
‘Really liked the program. Curtis got on really well with Gaby and had a good connection with her. Having someone young and relatable was great and I know Gaby had a sister going through the HSC so that experience she was drawing on as well.’
Asha Jassal
‘He said he had a good time and she got him to talk. He's more confident and under control, He said "I've got all the resources". Asha was really easy to talk to and excellent at communicating.’
Anna Bartos
‘Ava is using the strategies to prepare for exams - time management strategies and memory techniques. Anna was great and a great fit for my family. She was calm and thorough; I have already recommended it to 3 people’
Slack Channel Highlights
You guys have been blowing up the Slack channels this month - thanks for giving us so much great content to share with the rest of the team!
TEAM QLD
Here we have a pic that Alana Langley shared after finishing up her final seminar for the year, a great selfie from Harry Nairn, and some awesome snaps from the EOT drinks – think Alana wins the award for best costume...
TEAM VIC
From the VIC team, we have a mid-speech snap from their EOY drinks and farewell selfie to Maddy Brown who ran her final sem this month, both shared by Angelo Giannakopoulos. Maddy herself also posted a wonderful photo of all the visitor slips she’s collected during her time at Elevate – amounting to 133 schools across 5 states. If a picture can paint a thousand words, this one tells us just how much impact you guys have on students across the country every year.
TEAM NSW
Some great contributions from the NSW team this month, including: a photo of the team’s Secret Santa/thai food meet-up shared by Pearl Buhariwala, a classic meme reenactment captured by Amir Hashemi Pour, and a great snap of the team enjoying a post-sem wind-down.
TEAM WA
Thanks, Bhakti Sharma, for sharing these pics from the WA EOYD! Some great photos of the team and the new Australian GM, Charlie Rush.
TEAM SA
And last but not least, we have another great EOYD snap documenting the SA team’s successful breakout from an escape room.
TEAM SOUTH AFRICA
It’s been a quieter month for the South African team as schools began to finish up for the year, but they've still helped 660 kids set up for 2024.
Now let’s take a look at the presenters and coaches who have received some outstanding feedback this month...
Presenter of the Month
A huge well done to Angelica Hattingh, South Africa’s Presenter of the Month!
Angelica has been helping the kids left, right and centre, bagging an average stats rate of 100% - could we ask for much more?
When we asked Angelica how she preps for a great seminar, and here was her advice for other presenters:
'Usually if it’s a completely new seminar then I’ll read through it, make my own notes on it and practice talking through it by myself. If it’s a presentation I’ve done before but I’m refreshing myself, I go through and pinpoint the keywords in each point to help remember it. My biggest piece of advice would be to familiarise yourself with the Prezi. Practice with the Prezi beforehand as much as you can'
Congrats again Angelica – enjoy a well-deserved rest over the break!
Coach of the Month
The Coach of the Month for the South African Team this month is Veronique Folscher!
Veronique is new to Elevate coaching but has been a massive asset to the team. She has taken on multiple clients since joining and has been running an impressive number of in-person sessions.
She’s been nailing both the session quantity and quality, running the highest number of sessions this month while maintaining an average rating of 9.6 from students who have praised Veronique’s sessions for making learning fun.
What an awesome start, Veronique!
Standout Coach Feedback
Stanzi Malan
‘My son absolutely loved the sessions with Stanzi, he is more confident than ever and has gained valuable skills from the sessions that he can use for the rest of his life.’
Nolwazi Hlongwane
‘I sourced the coaching program for myself as a university student and Nolwazi was amazing. She guided me through all the study skills necessary for me to feel confident going into my 2nd year of studies. I am more confident in my study skills and look forward to applying the skills in the new year.‘
Hannah Geddie
‘Hannah was fantastic, she was very patient and ensured that the skills were not only taught but understood. I have already seen improvements in my child and have recommended your program to a friend.’
TEAM UK
The UK team has been busy setting students up across the country for a strong start in the new year, delivering 734 sessions to 32296 students in the past month. That’s a huge team effort.
And, as always, we’d also like to recognise those team members who have delivered an exceptional service to students, teachers and parents this month. Let’s see who’s made the list for November.
Presenter of the Month
Evie has put in some killer effort this month, bagging some consistently fantastic feedback from teachers and students with 97.93 average stats across the month.
Evie delivered 30 seminars across the last four weeks and brought her A game in every single one of them - that’s what we like to see!
Standout Presenter Feedback
Deon Ash
‘Pupils were really engaged and the presenter Deon was dynamic and knowledgeable, combining humour and anecdotes to get his messages across. The event was well received by pupils - and they're asking for more!’
Josh Fitzpatrick
‘Josh was engaging, pitching it at the right level to draw in the students. The content was exactly what was needed. He listened to our current issues and tailored the session appropriately.’
Nehemiah Yeboah
‘Nehemiah came today and he was utterly, utterly brilliant! One of the best speakers we've ever had. He was both at their level and inspiring them to go further in what they could achieve. He definitely coached both practical and growth mindset - he was just the best.’
‘Students reacted very well to the presenter and Nehemiah was able to get through to some of the most resistant students. This was a group of less engaged students and they were all raving with praise telling the groups that had the session later on in the day that they need to pay attention to the session.’
Coach of the Month
A round of applause for our UK coach of the month, Mehnaz Akbanie.
Throughout this month Mehnaz has been helping student after student to work towards their academic goals, achieving a feedback average of 9.3 – we’ve had some parents who are very grateful for her outstanding support. Amazing work, Mehnaz, thanks for being such an awesome representative of Elevate and our mission!
Take a look at some client feedback on Mehnaz’s coaching below:
“Mehnaz can make me remember anything!”
“Mehnaz is so sweet and amazing, so helpful!”
“Isla really enjoyed her second session with Mehnaz and gained a lot from the session. She came off the session very happy again.”
TEAM US
The US team might have had a four-day weekend this month to celebrate Thanksgiving, but this certainly didn’t break their stride. Since our last update, the team has run 584 sessions with 19580 students, ensuring schools across New York are finishing up the term with those essential study skills embedded.
We’ve had great feedback across the board this month, but we’d like to celebrate some team members who have really pushed the boat out in November...
Presenter of the Month
Stellar effort this month TJ Salvador – you’re our US Presenter of the Month!
TJ got a hefty 16 seminars under his belt in November and received a very impressive average feedback stat of 99.13%. Keep killing it, TJ!
Want to know how TJ delivers outstanding seminars time and time again? He's told us his unique approach to delivering seminars that impress teachers and engage students:
'In each session I try to creatively use the material to connect with students. When given the chance to understand the sessions in their own way, I've found that students put in an effort and begin to realize that their personal creativity is also important to their learning journey!'
And thanks to Kaira Pacheco for sharing this awesome pic of some Elevate newcomers who smashed their training earlier this month! Welcome to the team!
And that's it for November's roundup! We wish all of you a fantastic holiday season, and we'll catch those of you who are back in January at the start of the new year!