SCHOOL PRINCIPALS WALK THE WALK TO INSPIRE STUDENTS

FOUR school principals are swapping their leather shoes for trekking boots this weekend as they head bush in the Gold Coast Kokoda Challenge.

Joining hundreds of others this morning in preparation for a long, hard and overnight challenge, the team of primary school principals is all set to embark on the 96km course.

Trekkers begin their challenge at Mudgeeraba, head south to Bonogin and into the Springbrook wilderness before heading north towards the Hinze Dam, then into the Numinbah Valley and loop around to Clagiraba, Mt Nathan and finish at Nerang.

Norfolk Village State School principal Samantha Donovan said the team hoped to encourage resilience and courage in their school communities.

“We talk a lot in our school communities about physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing and it’s a great way to model for our kids,” Mrs Donovan said.

With an ultimate goal of introducing multiple education teams, St Bernard State School principal Adam Brandt said colleagues had already shown interest.

“We’ve already got other principals keen. They’ve been telling me we have backups if someone drops out,” Mr Brandt said.

Principals Scott Anderson, of Pacific Pines State School, and Justin Kummerow, of Beaudesert State School, are joining the others for the long haul, sporting shirts with the slogan: “Being a principal, easier said than run”.

They hope to support the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program kids who are working to complete the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea in September.

Fundraising is a mandatory part of the Kokoda Challenge, with teams having to raise a minimum of $1600 with donations to fund the youth program. Competitors have 39 hours to complete the 96km challenge, passing through 13 checkpoints.

The 48km event must be completed within 33 hours.

The event begins at 7am today at the Mudgeeraba Bowls Club and finishes at the Nerang Velodrome.