Hello everyone!

My name is Todd Truong, and I am one of two College Captains at Copperfield College in 2023. Now that we’re approaching the new year, I’m writing this segment to you all to reminisce upon and reflect on our fruitful achievements and to reinstate the legacy the student leadership team have left behind; we have worked tirelessly and immensely hard in everything we have planned and organised (with failures and successes), and we hope that our efforts do not go unnoticed. But first, what is student leadership, and why is it so important? Some of you may be asking why student leadership hasn’t been so prominent in past years, and with the occurrence of this year, we wanted to reform leadership and truly represent the student body, our main motto advocating for student life, happiness, and ambience at school and in our personal lives. Uplifting a sense of school spirit while maintaining the school’s core values of collaboration, inclusiveness, the Triple R’s, and empowering every student to learn and achieve, student leadership meant taking charge and having initiative in what you want to do and pursue at school and in the community. This year, I believe we have truly fulfilled all of our goals and aspirations and have set a foot in the right direction for years to come.

The amazing 2023 student leadership team consisted of 15 amazing Year 11s and 12s: Chad Lazaro, Todd Truong, Alysha Anwar, Makayla Burling, Shayne O’Donnell, Faith Samuels, Amy Nguyen, Hannah Tanielu, Jazmin Barbaro, Suela Pajaziti, Katie Hua, Ayub Abdulhadi, Mia Chircop, Nataleigh Garwood, Anthony Tran, and Harlan Mauli. Utilising crucial skills such as cooperation, collaboration, communication, and idea-sharing, we have worked together on a multitude of occasions to lead and set up amazing events and days. We have become such a tight-knit team and I will miss working with each and every one of them. Thank you personally for all of your time in our weekly meetings and your contribution of great ideas to enhance how we function and co-exist at school.

We have organised so many events in our time at Copperfield College, purely and solely led by the student leadership team. Here are some of them:

Harmony Day: On Friday the 24th of March, the student leadership team organised 'Harmony Day' at the Delahey Campus. With Todd Truong, our college captain, MC'ing the event, we brought forward amazing and beautiful cultural performances (from Pacific Islander culture, K-pop, Japanese music, etc.), accentuating the diversity of Copperfield College. On this day, we particularly celebrated the depth of our multiculturalism and the vast variety of countries of origins that students come from by dressing up in their heritage clothes. We also had 'The Kebab Man' come to the school, selling tasty food through their food truck. We raised more than two hundred dollars for the Red Cross Foundation, with funds going towards supporting the Turkey and Syrian earthquakes. It was a very successful day, in which the student leadership team aimed to up student enjoyment at school by embracing cultural diversity.

Valentine's Day: On Tuesday the 14th of February, the student leadership team hastily prepared a very successful and fun Valentine's Day event, providing a lovely and lively atmosphere. Decorating the study centre with love-related items, we organised a photo booth which students greatly enjoyed, with props a plenty to pose with friends, cherishing the interpersonal relationships we have with each other, both at school and in the community. We also had a few live performances by students to create ambience, which was well-received by all members of the school community.

Student Leadership Wall and Suggestions Box: Throughout Term 1, the student leadership team felt that there was a lack of student voice at the Delahey campus. Stemming from this issue, we established a spread in the Study Centre catering specifically for student leadership to be utilised for multiple purposes; this wall acts as a notice for students about future events, and includes fun amenities, such as a 'motivational quote of the week', contact details to College Captains and SRC and Student Leaders, and important monthly dates. We have also created a suggestions box for students to project their voice and opinions. We take these into consideration and work hard to address anything conveyed by students at the school, encouraging student involvement and participation.

Push Up Challenge Day: On Friday the 2nd of June, the student leadership team organised, in liaison with the ‘Push-Up Challenge’ foundation, a special day in which we initiated the beginning of the 23-day challenge, where everyone had to complete 3144 push-ups to represent the Australian lives lost by suicide in 2021. This was a meaningful and lively day, with musical performances galore and a united presence of charity and togetherness as students completed push-ups, star jumps, and enjoyed hot chocolate. Supervised and MC’ed by ambassadors Chad and Nicayla, and college captain Todd, this was a successful day that signified students’ support for the awareness of mental health, and the prevalence of relationships in each other and in the community.

Cosy Day: On Friday the 18th of August, the student leadership team organised ‘Cosy Day’, which was a unique day for students to come to school in their sleepwear, comfy clothes, and fluffy oodies as a well-deserved break for the good school year so far. In an effort to increase student happiness and spirit, we set up a photo booth, hot chockie drinks, and a multitude of performances (K-pop dances, acoustic performances, amazing vocals) to lighten the stress prevalently felt by students nearing exam season and to create a comfortable and nice atmosphere for all. Widely received by students and staff, people came in checkered clothes, ugg boots, flannels, and even animal inflatables to enjoy the chill day in the midst of peak assignment and work placement period.

Wear It Purple Day: On the 25th of August, the student leadership team – especially led by a small eager group of Year 11 students – conducted a bake sale in celebration and support of the special day acknowledging and embracing the LGBTQIA+ identity in our school. On this day, we celebrated the diversity of gender and sexuality at the school (donating over $200 to charity ‘Minus18’), accentuating the ‘purple’ aspect of the day with lovely homemade treats consisting of brownies, candy sticks, cookies, cupcakes, and cake pops. Everyone came in school uniform with purple accents and created a lively and fun atmosphere, with such sweet items selling out fast.

Other: Apart from our extravagant events we have conducted, we have also partaken in a wide range of activities and programs as student leaders: we have liaised and worked with College Principal Ms Griffiths in the working of an ‘Aspiration Learning Environment’, curriculum planning and student voice in the curriculum committee, partaking in works with Brimbank Youth Council, collaborating with small businesses in the community, yearbook planning for the Class of 2023, among other amazing opportunities.

Being a college captain is not just having your name written in gold on a plaque in the school administration office. Being a college captain is essentially being the face of the school and the sole representative of every student. This year, my experience as college captain has been one that was so rewarding, joyful, and amazing, despite occasional feelings of apprehension, worry, and self-doubt. I have broken so many personal boundaries and learnt so many valuable skills such as public speaking, initiative, organisation skills, and maintaining social presence. At first, I thought this role was low-key and one of not high importance. However, this was completely and blatantly wrong; I became one of the most-known students in the school and wearing my badge carried a lot of weight in being a reliable, independent, and responsible figure. Not only did I have to juggle academics (especially as a Year 12 VCE student and the pressure of exams and SACs) and personal events, but I also had to spend time and contribute a lot of my free periods and spaces in my life to fulfilling my role. Us Year 12s have been so stressed and overwhelmed with our respective VCE and VCE-VM courses and work apprenticeships and ATAR, so I hope my role as College Captain worked in alleviating some of this and made some of you all eager to get to school with a bright and positive growth mindset. While this was a time period in which I faced a lot of adversity and troubles, this allowed me to reflect upon myself as a person, peer, student, and member of the Copperfield College community, having to epitomise the students. I am proud of myself and the team for having such a successful year. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to Copperfield College for fostering and providing this amazing opportunity in my personal development. I would not trade it for anything else. I hope that my time here has cemented a precedent for years and generations to come as a pillar of student leadership.

I would like to greatly thank Mr Cutajar and Mr Pagonis for working closely with us and helping to coordinate student leadership, the music staff for helping us with the set-up of music equipment, the Campus Leaders for liaising with us, the Campus Principals for helping us organise events school-wide, the College Principal Ms Griffiths for advising and supervising us, and most importantly, the student body for supporting our student leadership initiatives.

Have a safe holidays, and I wish everyone who reads this prosperity, success in the future, and nothing but the utmost of happiness and contentedness.

Signing out for the last time this year,

Todd Truong, College Captain on behalf of the student leadership team.

Todd Truong

College Captain (Delahey Campus)

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