Judie Wilkins – Aspley LCC Chairperson
Whenever Aspley State High LCC chairperson Judie Wilkins looks into her son Robert’s eyes, she is reminded of the life-transforming work of school chaplains.
“I shudder to think of what would have happened to my boy if he didn’t have his school chaplain,” she says.
Robert was regularly bullied in primary school. At just eight years old he saw his parents’ marriage fall apart. Even in the classroom, there was no respite for the troubled boy, with his class teacher ridiculing him for the family’s Christian faith.
Needless to say, Robert was a very unhappy, withdrawn eight-year old.
Enter his primary school chaplain, Sharon, who patiently worked with Robert once a week. Change was in the air.
“You could always tell it was ‘Chappy day’ by the way he woke up and got ready for school. I didn’t have to persuade, nag or what have you. He’d jump out of bed and happily go on his way,” says Judie.
Now in high school, Robert is a happy young man looking forward to a much brighter future.
It’s this dramatic turnaround that inspired Judie to get actively involved in her local LCC and ultimately accept the chairperson role.
While Judie’s experience with school chaplaincy has been overwhelmingly positive, she regularly faces stiff and aggressive opposition.
Judie has learned that most of the opposition to chaplaincy in schools comes from a misunderstanding of what a chaplain’s role is, while for others it comes from a place of more deep-seated, albeit misplaced, prejudice.
“They would say, ‘well they shouldn’t be coming in here with their religious beliefs’. I said, ‘with respect, do you know the individual beliefs of your children’s teachers?’
Judie regularly explains that chaplains, like teachers, are in schools not because of their beliefs, but because of their skills, qualifications and passion to do a very specific job. For teachers, that job is to educate. For chaplains, that job is to provide social, emotional and spiritual support to students in need who have received parental approval to access that help.
In her current role as the LCC chairperson for Aspley State High, Judie loves showing the real story of chaplaincy to people in her school community.
“Many people are naturally kind and generous. So it’s just about making them aware. I took some ladies from our P&C along to our Frontline Dinner in October, where they got to hear these stories firsthand.
“Three of the women I brought along were really moved by what they heard that night. It’s about letting more people know about the work that these incredible Chappies are doing. And then they’ll be more likely to respond and want to help out, whether it’s going down to a Bunnings sausage sizzle or helping out at a school event to raise money,” Judie says.
These days Judie enjoys a positive environment at Aspley, where the P&C and the broader school community are very supportive of the great work of Chappy Lauren.
“She does a phenomenal job. I know times when she’s put in a 16-hour day and sure enough, she’s back at the school the next day at 7am sharp. I don’t know any professions where a person will do that and then in their spare time go and try to raise money for their pay check. She’s just amazing.”
*For privacy reasons, Judie was unable to be photographed for this story.