Welcome to our first monthly Around the Grounds update in over 3 years! And whilst we’d love to catch you up on everything that’s happened in each of our global locations during that time, today we’re just going to cover the key highlights from the past couple of months... and there’s been plenty!
Australia
Let’s take a look at the presenters who have been smashing it in the Australian team recently...
Presenter Shoutouts
The Australian team have been busy preparing for, and delivering, seminars all across the country during Term 3, and are ramping up for an equally awesome Term 4. A special shoutout here to those presenters who went above and beyond over the past few months, and were consequently awarded Presenter of the Term for their state:
Kerr Hutchinson
Western Australia
Ethan Marsden
Queensland
Kab Venkatasalam
Southern Australia
Charlotte Heaton
New South Wales
Grace Kim & Nick Geerling
Victoria Join Winners
Well done guys for your outstanding work and commitment to helping the kids this term!
As well as recognising our Aus Presenters of the Term, we also wanted to share some of the best feedback we've had from client schools over the course of September:
Standout Presenter Feedback
Jaden Legaspi
‘Jaden was an excellent presenter. The students responded very positively to him and he had them engaged throughout the whole workshop, regardless of the year group. He was very patient and was able to keep Year 8 on track during the last period of the day in the second last week of term!!! The students have said there are strategies and tips they are going to implement in their learning.’
Harry Morton
‘Harry was fantastic. It was great to have a face-to-face presenter. My Year 12 students agreed it was much more valuable than the last study day they did. Harry was knowledgeable and his timing was perfect, so he finished all the content .’
Sofia Gravier
‘The presenter, Sophia, was outstanding. She was enthusiastic, engaging and presented the content in a clear and logical manner. Our students got a lot of the session. Thank you.’
Louise Garagozlo
‘She was engaging and related the content to things they understood. Really positive feedback from everyone, they really liked her and thought she was excellent. All the students said it was really worth going to.’
Sienna Bartolomeo
‘The presenter (Sienna) was excellent. She was able to remember student names very quickly to build up relationships with the students. Her instructions were clear and delivered with enthusiasm.’
UK
September saw the start of a new academic year in the UK team, and the team hit the ground running last month! Take a look at some well-deserved team shoutouts below...
Team Shoutouts
Johnston Tan
Johnston has presented the most seminars this month with an incredible 42 workshops across the country at an average of over 98%! That is an unbelievable effort.
When we spoke to Johnston to ask what he does to ensure he keeps clients happy and get consistently good feedback, he said:
“It’s really what you do for the kids. If you’re in it for the kids that’s the answer for all the questions really. As long as you know what you’re in there for – it’s understanding who you’re speaking to and getting as much information as you can, speaking to the contact, the type of school, the community, once you know that it’s very easy for you to translate to what they need. I just have a rule – always know who”
Ella Durant
Our Head of Recruitment and Performance, Ella, has just wrapped up a MASSIVE hiring round for the quarter. She has hired and onboarded over 100 presenters – 63 of whom have made it all the way through training! Ella is now going to be shifting her focus on performance and coaching, working with the TLs to make sure everything is running smoothly on the ground and that everyone is having the best experience possible and the best opportunity to help the kids!
Hamman El-Aloul and Harry Law
Our CSMs Hammam and Harry have been nonstop with our biggest September period in the history of Elevate UK! This month we had 496 seminars running all across our territories. That’s 222 Schools, 1,142 presenters to allocate and 50,000 students helped! October is also looking huge in terms of workshops, so there’s many more opportunities to come... but for now, check out some of the best feedback our presenters have received this month:
Standout Presenter Feedback
Again, we’ve had a load of lovely feedback for our amazing UK presenters this month - you can check out what teachers have been saying below:
Ali Elkossi, Deon Nash, Haris Mughal, Jithin Surya
‘I wanted to pass on my thanks to the Elevate team who came along today. Ali, Deon, Haris and Jithin were brilliant and we have had fantastic feedback from students. We gave them a tough 3 hour stint but they made it look very effortless.’
Nigham Jahangiri
‘The young female presenter Nigham had the most incredible energy and we couldn't have asked for a better presenter! Thank you’
Johnston Tan Fantastic! Many thanks for this. Two brilliant sessions this morning delivered by Johnston and looking forward to the parent's seminar later. Possibly a slightly cheeky request, but can we please request Johnston for our seminars on the 31st January?’
Nicholas Williamson
‘The Elevate session that we had was excellent. Nick, presented and pitched the information to the students in such a way that our students were engaged and enthusiastic about what they were learning. For students coming into 6th Form education, it really emphasised the importance of study skills and time management. It was a brilliant session!’
Beatrice Tinsley
‘Beatrice was a fantastic presenter. Really adaptable and engaging’
South Africa
We're seeing some great things from our South African team as they set up for a strong finish to the year! There's one presenter in particular though that we'd like to recognise in this month's Around the Grounds...
Presenter Shoutout
A special shoutout to Asante Khwela from KZN who has absolutely smashed it this month.
Achieving a perfect 100% rating in her in-person and online student sessions and a standing ovation at parent seminars, Asante brings energy and enthusiasm to every area of her role. She is a team player, known for her positive approach, and a source of inspiration to her fellow presenters. Asante consistently champions our values, prioritising team cohesion and student success day in, day out. Amazing work Asante!
Standout Presenter Feedback
Candice Vorster
‘As always, the presenter was excellent. She managed to captivate my 13-year-olds during lunch! Many thanks!’
US
It's the start of another new academic year in the US, and there are exciting prospects on the horizon for our New York-based team - check out the photos above which feature a snapshot of Dante in Florida and an Elevate polo in front of the Goldengate Bridge in San Francisco!
Team Shoutouts
With expansion underway in the states, we want to recognise Moses Kazanji, a presenter from Team US who has been flying in and out of NYC this past month for multiple stints down in Florida, as well as lending a hand with multiple odd jobs for the Elevate HQ team. He's been racking up great statistics and comments like this one: "Moses was amazing! The students were engaged, and the workshop was meaningful."
And a big shoutout to US BDM, Khalid Abudawas, who recently celebrated his 2-year anniversary at Elevate! Congrats Khalid!
Standout Presenter Feedback
Brittany Reed
‘Brittany was such a great presenter and so engaging with children that I tried to convince her to work for the DOE. She is great at what she does.’
Troy Tripicchio
‘Just wanted you guys to know that Troy did an outstanding job during his presentation. We certainly hope to see him again!!’
Services Team
‘I'm really enjoying working closely with a wide range of people throughout the organization. Using my Salesforce skills to contribute value to the business is incredibly satisfying, and it's so rewarding to see how my efforts directly influence our company's growth and success.’ | ‘Working as part of the Elevate team has been an overwhelmingly positive experience so far – it’s a real privilege to work with so many resourceful, passionate and welcoming individuals.’ |
Over the past couple of months, the Services Team has grown by two, with new additions to both the Tech and Marketing teams: Bok Raposas joined us last month as Salesforce and Systems Administrator and will be helping to monitor and optimise our digital systems to support the growth of our business. Back in June, Georgia Keech came on board as a Copywriter and has been helping to create external marketing material and internal communications – including the Notes from HQ updates!
That’s it from us this month, team. We’ll be back with our October round-up in a month’s time. In the meantime, please let us know about any updates or photos you’d like us to share, we love to see what you guys are getting up to!