Dual Olympic medallist and greatest individual slalom paddler of all time Jessica Fox received a rock-star welcome, when she arrived at Ropes Crossing Primary School in Western Sydney on Wednesday (7 November 2018) to be part of a Launch Day for the school’s sport houses.
At the inauguration, one of the sport houses was named “The Fox House” after Jess Fox with the colour for the “Blue Fox-House” chosen in reference to water.
Fox was invited after a survey amongst students and staff resulted in naming her as one of the sportspeople the students “make connections with as representatives of Australia and in relation to the sport or activities the students themselves actually play”.
“Our students identified Jess as someone they identify as being a proud Australian and Western Sydney sportsperson within a sporting arena that they enjoy playing and supporting and we are incredibly proud that Jess made the effort to come to our school and attend the Launch event in person,” Michelle Dawson, Ropes Crossing Public School Assistant Principal, explained.
“It was an exciting day at Ropes Crossing Primary and I feel very honoured that the kids have chosen me as one of their role models, Jess Fox said after the event.
“I grew up in western Sydney and remember chanting and cheering with my sports house and it’s very special that they have named their ‘blue’ sporting house after me! I’m very touched seeing the kids’ enthusiasm and I’m thrilled that I can be a motivation for their sporting activities. They did their house chant for me and they sound fierce – go Fox house!”
The students made the visit extra special and not only handed Jess an inauguration plaque of the “Fox House, but also a bunch of letters written to her.
Assistant Principal Michelle Dawson thanked Jess for the support: “From the bottom of our Ropes Crossing hearts we thank you for being our Fox House Ambassador. There’s an old adage in education and it goes something like this: ‘Kids will forget who taught them which subject and even what they have been taught… but they’ll never forget ‘moments’ at school.”
“They will never forget performing your war cry and they’ll never forget meeting you or the day Fox House was inaugurated. We will also aim to change the war cry to ‘Charging the Rapids…’, which was fantastic idea!”
The Fox House “Charging the Rapids” runs as follows:
“Navigating rapids is what we do best,
we are the toughest, put us to the test.
Never give up,
Never give in.
We are the team to
WIN WIN WIN.
F-O-X
Fox HOUSE.”
Other sport houses named were the Green “Beale House”, the Yellow “Khawaja House” and the Red “Hadley House”.
Go Team Fox-House!
About Ropes Crossing
Ropes Crossing primary is a new and rapidly growing primary school located in Western Sydney situated closely to Mount Druitt. The school’s enrolments include 64% of students from language backgrounds other than English, with the largest representations from India and the Philippines. The diverse student body is represented by over fifty language groups.
