Twenty years of service to education and the community of Richmond has seen Janice Rowlands awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia during Australia Day celebrations.
Moving to the small, western Queensland town in 1999 to take on a teaching position at the Richmond P-10 State School, Mrs Rowlands taught Home Economics until 2007 and before moving into the Head of Curriculum role.
Mrs Rowlands has been president of the Richmond Branch of the Country Women’s Association since 2005 and president of the Richmond Tennis Club since 2002.
Her commitment to the tennis club saw her voluntarily coaching juniors every season, as well as being the Junior Development Officer for the North West Region Zone Assembly since 1999.
Mrs Rowlands has also taken on regional manager roles with the North West School Sport tennis representative teams since 2003.
Mrs Rowlands was humble in accepting her award, saying she was surprised to be nominated.
“I’m very proud of my achievements and proud of our Richmond community too,” she said.
“I don’t know yet who nominated me, but I have a sneaking suspicion.
“All I can say to them is thank you very much for taking the time and thinking of me in that way. I’m very honoured.”
Mrs Rowalnds said of the 20 years she spent in Richmond, she most enjoyed her involvement with the tennis club.
“Obviously school was a huge part of my life, but I was coaching the juniors at tennis and I enjoyed all that, watching them develop their tennis skills and just being part of the community,” she said.
“The tennis club is really important, especially for the juniors because it gives them an interest.
“It's just another thing to keep them occupied, something to improve their skills, and because we only go to grade 10, when they go away to school, it's something they can continue to be doing and developing.
“And CWA is just a really important service for the community.”
This is not the first time Mrs Rowlands has been recognised for her service to the Richmond community.
In 2002 she was the recipient of the Richmond Shire Council’s Australia Day Citizen of the Year award, and in 2016 she was recognised with the Service Award for North West School Sport.
