Year 9 Impact Program
The Year 9 Impact Team
WELLBEING WORKSHOP WITH REACH
Year 9 students recently had the privilege of participating in a Reach Workshop as part of the Impact Program. Reach is an organisation that works to improve self-belief and enhance social and emotional skills and was established to help students learn more about themselves and live meaningful lives.
The most recent session encouraged students to explore judgement, confidence and group dynamics, and the impact judgement can have on our individual confidence and peer dynamics.
The talented Reach facilitators created a safe and supportive environment before challenging students to act vulnerably with their peers and share their experiences of judgment growing up.
Powerful conversations ensued, and students reported leaving the sessions feeling more connected to each other, and with a conviction to do their best to refrain from judgment in the future.
IT'S EVERYONE'S BUSINESS WITH MONASH
On Friday 4 March, the cohort was lucky enough to spend the full day in the engaging and stimulating learning environments at Monash University's Clayton campus, where they continued working on their It's Everyone's Business projects.
As part of the School's partnership with Monash University, students participate in a semester-long program in which they have the opportunity to design their own Social Enterprise Business to try and assist with a problem they see in society.
Students are currently in the initial stage of this Program, and spent the day discussing the social issues that were most important to them. We were impressed by students' passion for social issues such as gender inequality, mental health and climate change, and they blew us away with their maturity as they navigated their way around the campus.
We are looking forward to seeing the business ideas students generate over the coming semester to tackle these problems, and also look forward to further opportunities of exposure to university campus life.
MELBOURNE YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Calista Yap and Alessia Di Felice, Year 9
Going into the State Youth Leadership Convention, none of us had the slightest idea of what to expect. We were excited by the prospect of a day revolving around leadership and personal growth. Throughout the day, we were lucky enough to be a part of motivating and inspirational conversations and speeches.
A personal highlight of ours was the first guest speaker, Holly Ransom. She told her story through a very impactful way that deeply resonated with us. She showed us that despite having external hardships, we were in control of our choices and how our journey was to unfold.
Another collective favourite moment was when we heard Hunter Johnson’s story about self-motivation, and our ability to look at ourselves and make a change for the better. In retrospect, we all got a lot more out of the day than we had initially expected. Looking back on our experience, we can see the growth and the self-discovery that we achieved after attending the conference.
Through this single event, we were able to learn from journeys taken by others and become a better version of ourselves. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity, and will take everything we learnt with us on our path of leadership.