March Conference

On 5th March, at GMHBA stadium our students took part in the first Be Bold Be Heard Forum for 2024. Nya Tut (North Geelong Secondary College student leader and member of BBBH for two years) opened the day with an inspirational speech that impressed students, staff and community leaders immensely. The first Forum is to inspire students to start identifying changes in class, college and community that they would like to pursue (to tackle student engagement, voice and agency) and Nya certainly launched them into this successfully. Students were then given guidance and advice on starting to allocate roles within a working team and some team building activities, led by Respectful Relationships leaders Raelene Newton and Rachel Johnston. After a quick morning tea, filled with jam donuts, danishes and fruit, students received further inspirations from our guest panel.

Special Guests

Lyndelle Zuccolin, the Founder and Managing Director of the strategic management consultancy Just Add Colour and Board Director of Skate Australia and likes to challenge the way we think. 

Jade Hamilton, the General Manager of Lazarus Community Centre and social worker who loves helping those that cannot help themselves, encouraged students to ‘find their tribe’. 

Michelle Geardtz, former Chair of AFL Barwon. Would like to see netball have equal status as AFL in all the clubs. As many of the guests highlighted she also has had numerous roles in programs and from her experiences, encouraged the students to “embrace those people who embrace you, attach yourself to positive people and keep encouraging others”. 

Allyson Brown, the Director of Everheal and the 4-Step LIFE formula programs, encouraged the students to not let adversity be a barrier, embrace it positively and reset your journey. She told students to “set goals, know the why and do what you are passionate about”. 

Nova Clough is from the Geelong Project, which supports young people at risk of being homeless, stay in touch with their learning pathway. Her cheerful presence provided the girls with confidence to reach out to others for support during tough circumstances and again highlighted the importance of being surrounded with the right people to achieve your own goals. 

Renee Garing, a PE teacher and ex-AFLW player for Geelong, talked of overcoming mental health challenges and also valued the importance of having the right people around you. 

Mick O’Malley, the first male panellist for BBBH was overwhelmed by the discussion and acknowledged that he had not really considered (regrettably) the female perspective until he had his own daughter. Mick organises Kokoda treks and was invited to speak about his approach to empowering young people during such gruelling journeys. He talked about friendships, and highlighted hardship in his teens that reaffirmed this. He shared a quote he recalled “show me your friends and I will tell you all about you”. In addition to this he encouraged the girls to really consider two things about yourself: “The Who and The What”.

The guests then went from table to table answering all the questions the students had conjured up. This was excellent and the students even formed some positive potential partnerships to support their actions going forward.

Full of inspiration, the students had a fantastic lunch and then went into some structured ‘quick wins’ led by Respectful Relationship’s Rachel Johnston. Interestingly, the room was still buzzing at the end of a long day and some of the quick wins and goals discussed were really exciting. We, at North Geelong Secondary, are exploring how to develop effective school mentors (staff and students). The next forum is in term 2, where students will organise an action plan for the year.