A chaplain is a person who works either in a school, hospital, jail or sometimes in the armed services (army, navy, air force) with the aim of being there for people.
In a school, a chaplain is a member of the staff whose job is basically to listen to students and be a trusted friend who is an adult. Chaplains like to hang out with the students, and may visit classes or play sports with them – which are things counsellors don’t usually do.
A chaplain will listen and try to help even if the problem has nothing to do with school. Sometimes there are things that you might not want to talk about with your other friends because it’s not cool. Or sometimes you might not want to talk with a teacher because you might be worried about getting busted. A chaplain can help in these kind of situations too.
David Alley (which is me) is the school chaplain at Mount Morgan High School and visits the school every Wednesday morning and Thursday. You can come for a private chat – or just a ordinary chat about anything at his office in Room 11. If David is not there, talk to Lis or Melvene in the office and they will let David know.
