Winton girls captains of three Charters Towers boarding schools
Three inspiring teenage girls from the same tiny outback town have risen to become school captains at different boarding schools, 460km away in Charters Towers. Read their stories here.
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In remarkable odds, three girls born in the same tiny outback town have grown into accomplished young women each captaining different boarding schools 460 kilometres away in Charters Towers.
Year 12 students Matilda Searle, captain of Blackheath and Thornburgh College, Madison Jesberg, captain of Columba Catholic College, and Jacalyn Elliott, captain of All Souls St Gabriels School, were all born in Winton in 2006.
“Matilda, Madison and Jacalyn, all three are Winton girls, a small and remote town in Central West Queensland, and all three have achieved exceptionally well through high school and boarding,” their proud former teacher from Winton Rebecca Batt said.
“And they are all school captains this year for Year 12 for each of their private school in Charters Towers.”
Jacalyn, who like her friends is in study mode ahead of the Senior External Examinations (SEEs) starting on Monday, described herself as an all-rounder.
The well-spoken and confident young woman, a Townsville and district rugby union representative and former captain of the junior girls Charters Towers Bulls team, received the All Souls St Gabriels Crest Award for Service, which recognised her commitment to the school community, and the Winton Shire Nadjayamba Memorial Bursary for academic and personal excellence.
Jacalyn said she loved being school captain.
“All the little kids, they’ll come up and stop me and have a conversation with me … they look up to me, there is a connection, I really love that, it’s really great.”
She hoped to study toward a career in teaching, saying she wanted to give back to the profession.
“It’s something that’s popped up in my life lately, I just thing people can make a difference being a teacher.”
Madison agreed with Jacalyn’s description of Winton, population 856, as small but friendly where everyone knew each other.
“I’ve lived there my entire life and like Jacalyn says, it’s a really small community but you always see someone you know and can talk to them.”
Madison, who wants to be a veterinary nurse, is more academically orientated, being named dux in 2023 for religion and ethics, wood work and ancient history.
“I wouldn’t say I’m good at sports but I still enjoy sports and have a go getting involved.”
Asked which of the three schools was best, Madison joked that it wasn’t even close.
“At Columba, everyone knows everybody else and you can talk to anybody, it’s just fun being around everyone.”
She said being school captain provided her with the important role of being a “voice for all the other students”.
“As captains, if there is something they want to do or change we can try and make it happen.”
Matilda, another all-rounder, said she believed she was appointed captain of BTC because she prided herself on trying to be a role model and “giving everything a go”.
She said she hoped to study nursing and midwifery.
“I’ve always been interested in that sort of stuff and I’m quite good at science.”
Matilda won multiple academic awards for biology in 2023, academic honours for maths in 2024, represented her school at the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN).
Ms Batt said the chances of three girls from Winton captaining their respective schools in the same North Queensland town were extremely remote.
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Originally published as Winton girls captains of three Charters Towers boarding schools
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