Year 9 News

Rypen

In November three lucky students from Year 9 had the opportunity to attend the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment, otherwise known as RYPEN. Here they learnt life skills and worked in teams to complete an array of activities and challenges. Multiple guest speakers attended the three day camp at Borambola Sport and Recreation Center to educate the students on the importance of facing life’s hardest challenges and overcoming them.

Upon arrival, the students were given RYPEN shirts, name tags and directed to their rooms where they would then meet their roommates for the weekend. They were then called to dinner and listened to three guest speakers stories. Afterwards, the students were given time to mingle with the others before lights out at 11pm.

On the next two days these three students had the opportunity to bond with their new colleagues while facing challenges that were fun, yet practical. These challenges helped with team building and communication as this was one of the main focuses of the camp. These three students gained a lot of necessary life skills and made friends from all over the state which they bonded very closely with. Elouise, Karanbir and Matthew gained a lot of necessary life skills from this camp and won't forget this anytime soon.

NSW Youth Advisory Council

Hi, I’m Samuel MacRae from Year 9, and on the 10th of November I was able to have the pleasure to be selected in the shortlist for the NSW Youth Advisory Council and travel to Sydney. I was extremely honored to be apart of a great day in Sydney, where we discussed important issues facing young people across our great state, such as mental health, well-being and the lack of future opportunities and activities. We also found and discussed ways to solve these problems, and learn immensely useful skills for our future. The day was operated by the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People, under the department of the honorable MP Ray Williams, the minister responsible for NSW youth.

The Youth Advisory Council provides a direct link of communication between young people and the NSW Premier and Government. The council is composed of 12 members from the age of 12 to 24, and provides guidance and solutions on issues, policies and laws that affect children and young people in NSW. The requirements of the council are that you have a knowledge of issues facing young people, and work actively and cooperatively to find ways to solve these issues, and be an active community member.

I am very much honored to be selected on the shortlist of 100 people to travel to Sydney. Being selected out of 900 amazing applicants gives me great pride. On the day we sat in table groups of people our own age, (for myself, 14 year olds), and in our groups we worked together throughout the day in activities, such as mock lobbyist/advocates, where we try and convince an adult of an issue that needs addressing, and mock juries where we all discuss our opinion on a matter, vote on it, and work together to give reasons why we feel this way about an issue and the solutions to solve it. The group I worked with were a group of amazing people from across the state, and we all became great and close friends, sharing an interest and knowledge in government and politics.

Going to this event is an immense honor, and I have taken away from it, leadership and advocacy skills that I will never forget nor never not need. This event has also opened my eyes about roles young people can pursue involving government, and I want to thank my family for supporting me and encouraging my interests