Published on: 19 September 2014





More than 320 people gathered in the Refectory on Tuesday morning to celebrate the father-son relationship and the opportunities offered to Christ Church boy. President of the Parents’ Auxiliary Samantha Goebel welcomed attendees to the Year 8 Father/Friend and Son Breakfast and guest speaker Lockie Cooke (Class of 2007).

Lockie, who grew up in rural Western Australia (Tammin), felt he was not as gifted as many of the boys in his year group at Christ Church. However, after a poignant moment in Year 9, he made a decision to “stop making excuses and lift his game”. From this point, he made the most of every opportunity around him and actively sought out leadership roles when available.

Today, Lockie is the Founder and CEO of ICEA (Indigenous Communities Education and Awareness Foundation), which he established after an eye opening experience in a remote community in 2006 as a Christ Church student. He is committed to developing his not-for-profit with a clear purpose: Reconciliation inspired by young people. The foundation has developed into a sustainable organisation – continually engaging young people to be the change makers in their community.

In 2013, Lockie was the Australian youth representative at CHOGM for the Commonwealth Youth Forum. He is the current Western Australian monitoring Ambassador, the Australian head delegate for the G20 youth summit (Y20 summit Sydney) and the Australian Youth Awards Cultural Understanding Winner 2013. He was also was recently appointed a board member at the School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia.

Lockie encouraged the boys to remember the acronym SHIFT:

S – situational awareness. Make the most of any situation you are in, stop making excuses and create the most of it.

H – habitual. Foster good habits rather than bad habits. Become proactive rather than lazy.

I – inner dialogue. You need to tell yourself that you can, everyone is capable.

F – faith and focus. Have faith in yourself and remain focused.

T – turbulence. There will be turbulence along the way, but try to use these as opportunities rather than obstacles.

Community Groups Co-ordinator Christy Dangerfield thanked the Parents’ Auxiliary, especially the team of Year 7 parents, who assisted in setting up and serving on the day.