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Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Locally owned and proudly independent
Rotary celebrates 70 years in Mareeba
Mareeba Rotary celebrated 70 years in Mareeba on Saturday night, with a birthday party to remember. In their tradition of giving back to the community, they donated more than $28,000 dollars to local organisations. Turn to page 14 for a full run down of the evening.
State-of-the-art school planned for Mareeba Exclusive by Carl Portella Educational consortium, Standard Bearers Academy Holdings, is pleased to announce plans to build a $70 million, state-of-the-art boarding school in Mareeba, for years 5-12. The new non-profit school will be called the Standard Bearers Academy, on account of its mission to educate the leaders of tomorrow to uphold the highest ethical and moral standards. Standard Bearers Academy will provide a broad-based education infused with an Islamic worldview in an inclusive faith centred environment for up to 1200 boys at a time from around Australia. Spokesperson Brenton Gibbs said the Academy, to be located on 96 acres of land at Tinaroo Creek Road, Mareeba, would be a first class educational institution with a particular focus on
farming technology and rural activities in keeping with its location in Queensland’s agricultural heartland. “The Standard Bearers Academy will be a learning community that is inclusive, dynamic and focused towards providing future leaders,” Mr Gibbs said. “Mareeba has been selected partly because of its inspiring natural beauty and also because it provides an ideal location for the agricultural training, sporting and equestrian activities we intend to offer our students.” The school’s facilities will include student accommodation and classrooms, a performing arts complex, multi-faith worship hall, Olympic-sized pool, high performance sports centre, tennis and basketball courts, equestrian centre, 400m tartan athletics competition running track, two sports fields, an orchard and a training farm.
It will also include an on-site Teacher Training College and College for Applied Leadership. Standard Bearers Academy will be informed by an educational philosophy based upon five key principles: internationalism through understanding and appreciation of others; community service and the fore grounding of, compassion, sharing and social justice; environmental stewardship; self-discovery through adventure and sports; and global ethical and moral leadership. The values that the school will seek to inculcate in the students include integrity, quality, compassion, responsibility, hard work and accountability. Mr Gibbs said Standard Bearers Academy would be an active member of the local community, participating in the broader life of the Mareeba Shire. It will also directly employ approximately
80 people, buying large amounts of goods and services from local businesses, and making its state-of-the- art facilities available for other community groups. “The school is a large enterprise and is expected to provide a lot of jobs and economic activity in the local area both during construction and also during our regular operation,” Mr Gibbs said. “It will also function as a drawcard for visitors and schools outside the local area as we are able to host top-level sporting teams and interschool events at our facilities.” Standard Bearers Academy will cater for a culturally and religiously diverse student body. This will include students locally and interstate and from all cultural backgrounds within Australia as well as a percentage of international students. CONTINUED PAGE 9
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