Year 10: making a difference

Young Changemakers

On Friday 24th March the Year 10 Class Captains went to our first Young Changemakers meeting at the Inner North Foundation offices on High Street, Northcote.  Young Changemakers is a not-for-profit program that empowers young people by giving them the opportunity to create a positive change of their choice within their community. This is done by allowing them to donate $15 000 amongst three different charities.

In Friday's session, we were asked to map out our neighbourhood, plotting the things that were most important to us such as sporting clubs, shopping centres etc. We then had to categorize them into either business, government or not for profit organizations. It was interesting to see our neighbourhood from this aspect.

Leading on from this, we were shown the countless social enterprises that were situated within our local area which came as a surprise to all of us considering we had no idea that there were so many right around the corner! Each of us were assigned at least three local not for profit organizations to research so we could come back to the following session with some idea of what we were interested in pursuing. We did explore several topics that that we wanted to focus on such as environmental issues, discrimination etc. and were provided with the statistics regarding each one.

Young Changemakers is a learning opportunity for all of us and we all look forward to continuing with it so that we can ensure a positive difference is made and help those in need. ​

Mikka Jordan 10G

Youth for Causes

On Saturday 1st of April myself and the other members of Northcote’s YFC (Youth For Causes) Team had the incredible opportunity to take part in a Social Enterprise Walking Tour around Australia’s social enterprise capital, Fitzroy. 

The day started by meeting at Co-Ground Coffee and from there we were split off into smaller groups that visited our designated social enterprises.

Mikka and I’s group were lucky enough to visit HoMie where we heard from one of the co-founders about his involvement in the development of the business. Then we headed to Charcoal Lane where we heard from the head and trainee chef’s about the history of Australia’s native flora and fauna (bush tucker) and how they were used to create the delicious meals served.

To finish the day, we visited Thankyou water headquarters and heard the inspiring story of Thankyou’s journey and how far they’ve come as a social enterprise and also the extraordinary and creative ways in which they managed to achieve all that they have.

Overall the day was truly a new experience for me and a deeper look into the world of social enterprise. It was a fantastic kick off to the program as we all gained so much knowledge that will be extremely helpful as we begin our journey of social justice and change, as we develop our own social enterprise with the rest of Northcote’s Youth for Causes team.

Jessica Bell-Matsen 10G

Philanthropic Project: Victorian Aboriginal Health Service

On Friday 21st April a group of Y10 leaders visited, the Victorian

Aboriginal Service (VAHS) in connection with their philanthropic

project.  You can expect a full report on this excellent experience in

the next newsletter.

To raise money for VAHS the Y10s will be hosting a BBQ and other

fun events on Friday 28th April at lunchtime.

All money raised will be donated to VAHS’s ‘6 Week Challenge’, a

health and fitness program for up to 100 people.  This includes

supervised and program based gym sessions, personal training, yoga,

fun-runs, bootcamp, boxing, health and nutrition education along with

referrals to other health practitioners to help achieve physical and

mental wellness.

Please encourage students to donate for this excellent cause.

Mr Macdonald