December 12th, 2016
Author: Tracey Chau
Have you ever wondered what happens back at the Royal Children’s Hospital when the CATS team return from visiting your school? Or when we (very excitedly!) receive the mail you’ve sent to us? Actually, have you ever wondered exactly who looks at the questionnaires you complete, and who tries to piece together the puzzle that is growing up? Well, you’ve come to the right place! There are so many unique and interesting skills that our CATS team have, and that’s exactly what helps our study to run so well every year.
Since we ask you lots of questions, we decided to also ask our team some intriguing questions to find out a bit more about them!
What do you think about their answers? What would you say if you were asked the same questions? Well, let’s find out!
Project Manager: Lisa Mundy
As Project Manager, Lisa looks after everything – she speaks to your schools, families, and even sometimes the Government! She also plays a really important part in deciding what questions we ask you. She is leading the team towards finding ways that we can help young people, just like you, have the best start to their teenage years. These responsibilities mean that it can be very busy for Lisa every year, so we wondered about what she gets up to when she has the chance to take a break.
Q: Lisa, what’s the best holiday you’ve ever taken?
Lisa: Just this year, my family came from the UK to visit me in Australia and we were lucky enough to visit some amazing places. We went to Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Ocean Road and even Uluru – it was awesome!
Project Coordinator: Elissa Phillips
When things get very busy in the CATS office, or even when we just need someone who can help us decide what to do — the CATS team know that we can always rely on Elissa. From making sure we are all organised to visit you out at high school, to getting us ready to chat to you and your families on the phone, Elissa supports us in everything we do! Elissa also loves to get out and explore the world, so we thought we would ask…
Q:Elissa, if you could learn any language fluently, what would it be?
Elissa: Definitely French – then I could order all the best baguettes, croissants, fromage and charcuterie!’
Statistics Team
Have you ever wondered how exactly we are able to learn about what it’s like to be a young person from your answers to our questionnaires? With the expertise from our statistics team and a little bit of maths magic, everyone’s answers are turned into numbers that we can then analyse. This includes creating graphs and plotting points to explore changes over the years. We wondered what some of our number magicians get up to in their down time away from the maths.
Louise Canterford
Q: Louise, what is your favourite day of the week?
Louise: Wednesday – it’s my day off work! I can have lunch with my sister and niece. Then pick my daughter up from school and share an ice cream on the walk home.
Project Assistant and Volunteer Team
We love catching up with you at high school, and we love talking with you and your families on the phone – we’re the project assistant and volunteer team! Together, we make sure that everyone in CATS is ready for another exciting year. You may recognise some of us from Term 3 or Term 4 this year, or even a couple of us from Year 6 – now here’s a chance for you to find out a little bit more about our dynamic group!
Tracey Chau
Q: What’s your favourite city in the world?
Tracey: My favourite city in the world is definitely Melbourne! There is something very unique about the culture, good vibes and overall lifestyle here that I just love. Plus, we have amazing food here too!
Emily Harbard
Q: What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?
Emily: When I was 12 years old, I wanted more than anything to be a vet. I was (and still am) an animal lover and thought a job caring for animals all day would be a wonderful career!
Kate Hardiman
Q: What’s your favourite late night snack?
Kate: A hot milo drink, especially in winter to warm up!
Paul Hockey
Q: Which super power would you like to have?
Paul: I would like to teleport. That would make my commute super easy. Maybe also mind reading. How good would that be for research!
Sophie Ratcliff
Q: If you were having a dinner party and could invite 3 famous people, who would they be?
Sophie: Beyonce Knowles, Frida Kahlo (Painter) and Adam Goodes (Former AFL player). I would want to invite these these three people as they are all very different from each other but incredibly talented. They also care about culture, history and their communities.
Michael Wilson
Q: Where would you go in a time machine, if you could go anywhere at any time?
Michael: If I could go anywhere in time, I would go back to the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, when I went on family holidays to Queensland with my family when I was a kid! So much fun, and I had not a care in the world because I spent all day, every day on the beach with my family.
Paul Butera
Q: If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?
Paul: Future Paul, what is it like to be the host of Wheel of Fortune? John Burgess RIP.
We have so many different skills in our CATS Team, and that’s what makes our study run so smoothly every year. Every day brings new and exciting discoveries and challenges as we learn together how to ensure that young people, just like you, have the best start to adolescence. As you continue to grow and experience being a teenager, the CATS Team are so excited to be part of this journey with you!