Even though they weren’t part of the official well-organised and planned itinerary, a group of Wesley College Year 9 boys accidentally came across the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, in Kings Park during her recent Perth stopover.

Wesley’s Year 9 Katitjin Program Leader, Nathan Jessup, was in the park running team building exercises with the students when they noticed Dr Rice and her entourage moving around the War Memorial. They decided to put the Wesley College motto By Daring & By Doing to the test and approached one of the security guards. Dr Rice was happy to take the time to chat to the boys and provide a photo opportunity with them.

She was particularly interested in what the program was about, its focus and what the boys were doing. Nathan Jessup said that Dr Rice was curious about the name of the program so he explained that,  “Katitjin is a Nyoongar Indigenous term meaning to listen and to learn”, he said. “Its aim is to challenge and extend students, provide leadership skills and take them out of their comfort zones within a supportive environment.”

Following the chance encounter, Nathan commented, “the students were very excited about just seeing Condoleezza Rice, let alone meeting and speaking with her. It is something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

The students were just amazed at the amount of security and the media presence there was for just ONE person.