Cranbourne, Officer, Berwick, Clyde 2020 school captains share hopes, dreams for future
They’re often thought of as selfie-taking showoffs — but our next crop of leaders are anything but. We asked Melbourne’s Year 12 school captains what difference they can make to the world. Here’s what those from Cranbourne and surrounds said.
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Change is inevitable — but what kind of world do our next generation of young leaders want to live in, and how will they play a role in making it happen?
In our second annual special report on Tomorrow’s Leaders, we asked school captains across the length and breadth of metropolitan Melbourne: “What action will you take to make a difference in your community?”
Captains of 216 schools responded, and the thought-provoking and inspiring words of those from our local schools are publishedhere.
A representative group of 26 of these young leaders, featured on the front cover of every local special print edition, gathered with us at State Parliament recently to extrapolate on their thoughts and meet Premier Dan Andrews, who took the time to offer them some encouraging words to forge their own path as they prepare to take on the world.
One of the most inspiring observations from this gathering was how easily these confident young people networked with each other, despite never having met.
It reminds us great leaders are also great communicators.
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BAYSIDE, CAULFIELD AND PORT PHILLIP SCHOOL CAPTAINS
FRANKSTON AND GREATER DANDENONG SCHOOL CAPTAINS
LILYDALE, YARRA VALLEY AND MAROONDAH SCHOOL CAPTAINS
OFFICER SECONDARY COLLEGE
Caitlin Hartley, 17 and Jaimee Chorley, 17
We don’t believe that making a difference in our school community comes down to any one action in particular, but more so several small differences that overall create an atmosphere full of creativity, citizenship, inclusion, critical thinking, respect and excellence that are some of our school’s core values.
We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by lots of people can transform a community, which is what we aim to do by leading large groups of students that can work together to create and complete plans to improve our community.
With that being said, we do acknowledge that community spirit is an integral part to our school circle.
Through student campaigns, fundraisers, planning, decision making, teamwork and increased opportunities, as well as acknowledging success and supporting all members within our community, we want to facilitate an environment full of community spirit and influence future leaders within our school to give individuals the chance to find their own voice and confidence to become a successful leader themselves.
CASEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, CRANBOURNE EAST
Max Murphy, 17 and Mercedees Lynch, 17
Our technological world is very dynamic.
Our generation is more aware than ever about world issues. Through technology, we can bring aid to those who need it and stay connected with family and friends no matter where they are in the world.
We are able to learn from the mistakes of the past and use social media to create awareness, provoke conversations and possibly cause change to traditional outlooks and values. Our understanding of the world allows us to celebrate differences rather than being divided by them.
We look forward to being a generation that initiates change and creates a better future. It is exciting to be able to take action, both on an individual and global scale, which we hope will make a difference to society. For example climate action or embracing the differences of the LGBTQ+ community.
We plan to run workshops at school to raise awareness around social media and its effect on mental health and wellbeing. We hope to find ways to use technology to improve society for all. At school, we are excited to make changes at the local level that will hopefully flow on to positive change in the wider community.
NARRE WARREN SOUTH P-12 COLLEGE
Jastehana Ngatokoa, 17, Melinda Rogerson, 18, Talosaga Heka, 17 and Gursahib Singh, 17
As role models and student leaders within our school, we plan to introduce new fundraisers and programs to help build camaraderie in our community.
We understand the importance of feeling connected, happy, engaged and safe in our community and how this can help promote our school values of PRIDE (Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dedicated teamwork, Excellence).
We have a large homeless community which we hope to help reduce.
Last year, our student leadership team organised an event to raise funds for the Salvation Army.
The money raised went towards building shelters and providing food and services for the less fortunate in our community.
We hope to continue this, both this year and in the upcoming future with more events such as awareness days, casual dress days and more.
Within the school, we would also like to raise money for programs such as State School Relief so as to help students within our college who are unable to obtain their own school essentials such as uniform and stationery due to hardships at home.
This would help blossom student relations and promote positive health and wellbeing to build upon work ethic and feeling safe in our college.
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MOORABBIN, MORDIALLOC AND CHELSEA SCHOOL CAPTAINS
MORELAND AND MOONEE VALLEY SCHOOL CAPTAINS
MORNINGTON PENINSULA SCHOOL CAPTAINS
NORTHCOTE, PRESTON AND HEIDELBERG SCHOOL CAPTAINS
NORTHERN, SUNBURY AND MACEDON RANGES SCHOOL CAPTAINS
MINARET COLLEGE — OFFICER CAMPUS
Eman El-Hennawi, 17 and Rumaan Barayalai, 17
Life isn’t about possessions and achievements, it’s about what you’ve done with those accomplishments to make the planet, the country or even the community an improved and better place.
It is about caring and helping for one another and grasping the opportunity when you have the chance to make a positive difference and do something good.
Being able to influence the world that affects you, and having your voice heard, we believe is a basic human right.
We have the power to transform the world around us and we should have that seat at the adults’ table and take it with pride.
Our vision is to improve the environment and its biodiversity, weather that be from recycling, reducing waste, to grow more green spaces, or simply becoming more energy efficient. The problems we are facing now in the environment are tough.
However, the good news is that, we don’t have to be experts or adults to save our community. In other words, as we become more conscious about the environmental issues and put to plan the simple steps to save the community, we can make a huge contribution.
BERWICK COLLEGE
Tia Church, 17, Ty Barrot, 17, Samantha Buntrock, 17 and Dante Schmutter, 17
As Berwick College captains we are striving to facilitate more meaningful relationships and interaction between local secondary schools.
We can promote these relationships through workshops between local school leadership groups.
These may consist of comparing and contrasting different ideas and systems in place within their schools community and learning from one another.
We believe by understanding and improving from each other we can really boost our own systems and schooling environment. The best way to learn can be from others and their experiences.
We also seek to establish more significant relationships between Berwick College and local primary schools.
Understanding how beneficial it could be for grade 6 students to have the local secondary school come out and present to them, would lead to a much easier transition into high school which would result in a better overall high school experience.
This can be set up by implementing workshops or interactive talks with different primary schools who are in the Berwick College area.
ST PETER’S COLLEGE — CLYDE NORTH CAMPUS
Sophie Lingaya, 17 and Jaden Ward, 17
We aspire to lead by example and show everyone how each of us can all be leaders in our own way.
Everyone has skills and abilities and we want to make people feel that they have the freedom and capability to express their skills without feeling like they will be judged.
We hope to create an environment in our college and our communities that is positive and safe for all people.
This year we want to create a sense of community and spirit in our school where everyone feels proud of the badge that they wear on their chest.
We will be captains that our college can be proud of, by promoting things like our House Lip Sync competitions that encourage students to let their talents flourish.
Since technology is becoming more prevalent in today’s world we will use a social media platform to get our messages across and will actively contribute to the college Facebook page to get students more involved with what’s going on in our college and in our local community.
We hope to contribute now, and in the future, to an environment that everyone feels proud of and we believe that we can do this.
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WHITEHORSE AND MANNINGHAM SCHOOL CAPTAINS
WHITTLESEA AND DIAMOND VALLEY SCHOOL CAPTAINS
ST PETER’S COLLEGE — CRANBOURNE CAMPUS
Talia Parker, 17 and Brendon Quintal, 17
In our community, we believe it is important that everyone is welcomed and feels accepted despite everyone’s differences.
St Peter’s College focuses on this heavily as we are a school of diverse backgrounds and each have our own unique stories and experiences.
To be able to make a difference to our community, first this year, and into the future we have to be good leaders to follow, as with St Oscar Romero, we must do what we can to help others despite the odds, get involved with local community events such as the annual Cancer Council Relay For Life, as well as activities within our own college community including focusing on our individual and collective impact on the environment.
We, along with our other student leaders at the college will work together to develop new programs and changes in order to lower our impact on the environment, as well as teaching good habits that can be used outside of our school community.
We will also work to build a greater sense of community, in order to boost the sense of pride and general mood within our school and surrounding community, as problems such as mental health issues in youth are a rising trend.
LYNDHURST SECONDARY COLLEGE
Jarold Tagaloa-Leniu, 18, Jade Minton, 17, Nyachristmas Kuach, 18 and
Daejanae Talo, 17
The main action we wish to take to make a difference in our college community is to continue the beautification of our school.
Our sole reason behind this focus is making sure the students are happy in what they are learning. We would love to celebrate our diverse cultures and create a sense of ownership among students by painting our walls with art and cultural flags.
We believe this will help the students to want to be at the school because it would look more inviting, as well as having mental and social benefits as it relieves stress and increases inclusiveness, creating meaningful relationships with peers.
We will also continue with the work our previous leaders had planned; creating an inviting environment for our junior students.
The aim is for all students to have a place of their own to ensure they feel comfortable, welcome and safe in our college community.
The junior area will ideally consist of more tables and undercover areas to accommodate all weather conditions, along with more activities to participate in. Vital to this plan is involving our college community; we wish to enlist community members and our senior VCAL students to help create this environment.
CRANBOURNE SECONDARY COLLEGE
Josh Bradford, 17 and Olivia Bakin, 17
There’s lots of talk about how the use of social media negatively affects our community.
This has motivated us to look further into the issue and try to solve some of the underlying flaws that have a direct impact on the members of our community.
When we look at statistics, it shows us that more than 75 per cent of mental health problems occur before the age of 25.
So much negativity is displayed on social media that contributes to large amounts of stress, as well as inclining rates of depression, anxiety and suicide in today’s youth.
People continuously post videos of fights, non-consensual photos and bully others online.
As a focus this year rather than standing back and seeing the inappropriate use of social media, we want to encourage people in our community to use social media for some of its advantages.
If everybody in our community used social media for the right reasons – staying connected with faraway friends and family, building an audience for businesses and learning about other people and ideas – it could be seen in a positive light.
We would also love to encourage everybody to take a step back from social media and engage in activities within the wider community.
FOUNTAIN GATE SECONDARY COLLEGE, NARRE WARREN
Courtney Fakiki, 17 and Erik McGuire, 17
“Great leaders don’t create followers; they create more leaders ” – Tom Peters
Teenagers experience advancements in technology like no other era before. The power to generate answers is there with a click of a button.
Many people suppress problems with hours wasted on social media. Technology gives us the sense of being connected; however, it is not the human connection – a basic need.
I want to establish a student-peer support program – one that increases the sense of belonging and supports students to be inspired by other students; one that builds respect in our community, and the wisdom of older students can be passed down and positively influence younger peers.
— Courtney Fakiki
School is more than turning up five days a week, getting your name marked off a roll. We’re a community.
As school captain, I’ll advocate for further improvements to our school environment and facilities.
For students who are considering leadership roles in the future, I want to be a role model for them, and to motivate others to achieve, leadership or academic-wise. Fountain Gate has grown exponentially over the past six years, and it continues to improve to meet the needs of new generations. I
’ll be the link in Fountain Gate’s chain to assist this growth.
— Erik McGuire
NOSSAL HIGH SCHOOL, BERWICK
Kaaviyan Pathmasiri, 17 and Shalaaka Brahmavar, 17
There can be so much that an individual can do to contribute to one’s community, but nothing embodies the purpose of community more than the words of Helen Keller: “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.”
As young individuals growing up in a world that is getting smaller with developments in technology and globalisation, communities are getting bigger and yet more diverse.
As such, it’s more important than ever that we make a stronger effort to share experiences and build valuable, meaningful relationships that unite us as a society.
At a relatively young Nossal High School, we have the privilege of being the students who have the opportunity to cultivate an effective school culture where teachers and students work together and where student voice, agency and leadership are essential in contributing to empowerment and sense of school pride.
This year the school captain team’s guiding principle is “In 2020 school pride is key, Nossal is our place to be”.
We aim to provide a sense of belonging within the student group and emphasise the importance of working together to achieve greater goals.
In turn, we hope that students will remain well-rounded contributors to society after they graduate to create positive change in our community.
HAMPTON PARK SECONDARY COLLEGE
Isabeau Hart, 17 and Eddie Vusic, 17
How do we make a difference in our community? Do we become charitable to those in need? Volunteer our services to aid in the development of an improved society? The answer to all of these questions is yes. However an individual cannot do the same work than that of a community.
Helen Keller once said: “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” But how we will make that change together if we are not aware of the issues that surround us as a whole? As we grow up in such diverse communities, we are able to experience different cultures and ethnicities, allowing us to build a deeper connection to the community as well as teach us to view differences as learning opportunities.
As leaders, we aim to make a positive impact on our peers. We strive to influence our fellow learners of the importance of education. We aim to encourage students to view school not as a chore but as an opportunity for knowledge. As we seek to improve our school learning environment and unite the community, we can create awareness for community and world issues.
United we are better equipped to make a real difference, not as individuals.
WAVERLEY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, NARRE WARREN SOUTH
Portia Wilson, 17 and Andrew Liau, 17
As Year 12 students, we took part in a wellbeing program that taught us to balance our schoolwork alongside other aspects such as health and wellness.
This seemed to have one fundamental message: working hard today brings about change for tomorrow.
If we take a look back on the previous few decades, we can see many positive changes including social, political and technological improvements, and we want to be part of that change in the future.
While we also understand that striving for the construction of a utopia is a futile task, we can see great improvements on issues such as such as women’s rights, greater equality in the workforce and deeper awareness of mental health challenges.
As captains, we care deeply about being servant leaders within our school community, and are choosing to focus on embedding a positive school culture and minimising negative behaviour. To lead by example by focusing on health, wellbeing and school-life balance, demonstrates that it is important to do more than study.
As we to think about the year ahead and how we can positively impact our community and the future beyond school, we would like to start with the smaller things that matter; like today!
ST MARGARET’S AND BERWICK GRAMMAR SCHOOL, OFFICER CAMPUS
Oliver Ward, 17 and Navaal Saeed, 17
School captaincy is a finite opportunity – thus, the question is: how to extend beyond finite? That’s the question that we aim to tackle as school captains at Berwick Grammar this year. In order to extend beyond finite, we need the change not only coming from us, but also to inspire those around us.
We aim to achieve this by broadening the leadership platform with our focus on ‘visible leadership’.
This encapsulates the ideas of leading without a badge and being a community-minded student – one who believes they have the capacity to make a difference and engage all others.
This will be our constant message in assemblies, and focus groups with students, formally and informally – even just chatting in the schoolyard.
We believe that with a little bit of grit and passion, we can achieve this aim. We may not be able to change the world, but by focusing on developing one student at a time, we can propagate the message of being a visible leader: someone that volunteers, eliminates inequality and promotes global citizenship.
We hope that this message creates a spark in other students, to go on and create a difference in their own corners of the world.
ST MARGARET’S AND BERWICK GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BERWICK
Kara O’Sullivan, 18 and Yebin Yang, 17
The action we wish to take as school captains of St Margaret’s is to empower others so that they can make the difference they want to see in the world.
Many schools have already made a large difference in our community, whether it be through fundraising, collecting canned food or advocating for an issue.
However, a significant flaw of these methods we see is that if there is no one wanting to participate, the influence of these movements is severely limited.
To combat this problem, we will use our leadership platform to teach our peers that they can to be part of the vanguard for change.
Our theme is ‘impACT’, with ACT standing for Active Change Today, representing the three key elements that we believe are vital for making an effective impact: consistency, a goal-orientated mind, and the understanding that it is never too late for change.
By holding information sessions, running peer-to-peer workshops and inviting special speakers related to global issues, we want to make a difference by educating our peers of the countless issues that require our participation to be solved, but also emphasise you do not need to be a leader to make your ‘impACT’ on the world.
HILLCREST CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, CLYDE NORTH
Belle Munso, 17 and Himesh Jayasekera, 17
Today’s youth and generations understand greatly the need of being supported and having people to talk to so I want to take actions in the way we use social media as a platform to open up to each other, arrange the support and connect our youth with professionals by promoting them positively.
We need to allow the right advisement to appear on our youths pages to become healthier and happier humans.
By working closer with promoters of organisations in our communities, we will be able to find the correct way of getting the message needed out to the public.
— Belle Munso
I believe that the most important way to create a difference within my community is to build leadership potential within others.
The inertia created from the movement will contribute to a more constructive and nurturing environment for leaders of the younger generations to delve further into.
This can be put into motion through leadership workshops, as well as general role model behaviour.
The organisation of leadership committees targeting involvement from all leaders will also be pivotal for the development of desirable attributes. Diffusion of responsibility is a concurrent issue, thus the allocation of jobs for each individual minimises the negative impact it holds.
— Himesh Jayasekera