Welcome to the Charters Towers Branch!
The inaugural meeting of Charters Towers Branch of ICPA was held at the Charters Towers School of Distance Education Summer School in Townsville, at the end of 1986. The first executive included:
- President - Barbara Anning
- Secretary - Gail O’Sullivan
- Treasurer - Bev Rea
With strong membership of over 100, almost all branch meetings were held on-air. One of the factors making this branch unique was the strong commitment of members who regularly attended every Saturday morning on H.F. radio, giving members a valuable insight into the activities of the branch. During its formative years, the branch also hosted a mid-year Queensland State Executive Meeting at the School of Distance Education in Charters Towers.
Over the years many dedicated past and present members served on various educational bodies as part of their commitment to the education of isolated children.
- Gail O’Sullivan (1995) - delivered a paper on the use of modems in distance education at the Australian Association of Distance Education Conference in Hobart.
- Gail O’Sullivan (1991 – 1994) – was a Board member for St Mary’s College.
- Therese Stuart – was member of QUINSEC, advising on teacher training.
- Penny Wallace – was a Board member of Blackheath and Thornborough College, and served as Chairman of the Board. Penny was also an ICPA representative on Northern PCAP and the ICPA Area representative for the PCAP State Management Committee.
- Claire O’Brien, Therese Stuart, Robyn Russell and Sharon Kirk served on Northern PCAP as Area Parent representatives.
- Karen Higgins, Therese Stuart, Robyn Russell and Penny Wallace took part in the Regional Liaison Advisory Group for Distance Education.
As the Charters Towers School of Distance Education became more established, members began looking for more face-to-face contact with fellow ICPA members so many outreach groups were formed. Furthermore, this became the catalyst for the establishment of other ‘face-to-face’ ICPA branches. In response to the changes in membership the Charters Towers branch numbers began to ease, although quite a few families held membership with our branch as well as another branch. Early in 1991, active memberships became so low that the decision to close the Charters Towers ICPA branch was made.
Members on State Council:
Mrs Kim Donaldson, State Councillor 2008-2009, Assistant Secretary 2009 - 2020
Mrs Sonia Spurdle, State Councillor 2019-2020, Assistant Secretary 2020 - current
