Paralympian gives students inspiring speech
Photo: Sean White
THE boys from Toowoomba Grammar Junior School had the opportunity of a lifetime to learn from Australian paralympian Brant Garvey.
Mr Garvey spoke to the boys yesterday about the importance of resilience as part of the Tilly’s Resilience Project.
The paralympian said personal resilience was a crucial element for people to lead happy and successful lives.
“I want to teach these kids the skills of resilience, so that if they do come across bullying or other challenges they know they have the self-confidence and the self-worth to be able to lift themselves through that experience and become a better person out the other side.
“The first step the children need to learn about resilience is the need to learn the advantages of being unique and being okay with it.”
Mr Garvey learnt how to run when he was 28 in 2013 and represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games where he competed in the triathlon.
Toowoomba Grammar Junior School head of school Scott Campbell said he hoped the students would learn from the paralympian’s speech.
“Schools are experts at teaching reading and writing but developing a child’s character is a life story and if you can do it when they’re at a younger age they will be better off,” Mr Campbell said.