Prime Minister praises SA Teen Parliament scholarship winners
The PM, Premier and Governor were all on hand to present six bright young SA teens with their Teen Parliament scholarships on Thursday.
Students have the opportunity to fulfil their education goals after receiving education scholarships at The Advertiser’s Building a Bigger, Better SA forum as the nation’s political and business leaders watched on.
Teen Parliament scholarship recipient Juliana Lanzilli, 16, from Concordia, after accepting her award and chatting to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thought about what she wanted to do with her $10,000 education scholarship.
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“I’m in a very privileged position and I’d like to help another student,” she said.
“I live close to university so going to uni won’t be a difficulty for me but I know (for) some others, especially from the country and low-socio economic areas, it will be.”
At Teen Parliament she campaigned for financial education in schools and hopes to follow a career path in either electrical engineering or finance.
At the event Mr Albanese heaped praise on the scholarship winners with Premier Peter Malinauskas and business leaders such as Walker Corp’s Lang Walker and Santos head Kevin Gallagher in attendance.
“I am confident that South Australia’s future is a bright one,” Mr Albanese told the forum.
“I must say my confidence has been boosted by the calibre of the students here from your teen parliament.
Fellow scholarship recipient Jackson Coaby, 15, from the Tjindu Foundation received his scholarship after an impassioned plea at Teen Parliament for more support for young people to draw them away from a life of crime.
He plans to put his scholarship fund towards studying sports science at university.
Tayah Coulthard-Todd, 16, also from the Tjindu Foundation petitioned for equal access to education for Indigenous people and wishes to use her award to study nursing and midwifery at Flinders University.
“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be a nurse.”
She said the scholarship allows her to follow her education goals.
Kaylee Trenerry, 17, from Seaford Secondary College who called for more opportunities for girls in sports at Teen Parliament, relished the opportunity to be among the nations leaders at the event.
“It’s such an amazing opportunity to be here,” she said.
Her scholarship will go towards her study to become a high school maths teacher.
She has already been accepted to Flinders University through early entry.
Amber Cameron, 16 from Port Broughton Area School was inspired by the future plans for the state outlined by Mr Malinauskas and Mr Albanese.
“I loved hearing all the plans for our state and it was really inspirational,” Amber said.
She spoke about the need to reform South Australian education at Teen Parliament and hopes to continue driving change in her career.
“I do have a passion for the environment and real drive for positive change.”
She will use the scholarship to fund her tertiary education and she plans to study science and engineering.
Seth Kayser, 16, from Port Lincoln High School, wants a nuclear powered future and has his next years planned out after receiving his scholarship.
“I want to go into the army, defence force and be a mechanical engineer.”
Sponsors of this year’s scholarships presented at the event, in partnership with the Advertiser Foundation, were Elders, UniSA, Walker Corp, HomeStart, Thomson Geer Lawyers and the Adelaide Economic Development Agency.
In grandfather’s footsteps: Teen Parliament winner's inspiration
An Indigenous teenager who wants to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather in helping youth to forge a better life is among the $10,000 education scholarship recipients following Teen Parliament.
Salisbury East High School student Jackson Coaby, 15, made an impassioned plea at Teen Parliament last Thursday for more funding, carers and support to keep youth engaged and away from a life of crime.
“All our state needs are some stronger support for our youth and teenagers via funds and stronger supporting carers to get youth off the streets and into better and healthier lifestyles,” he said.
Jackson, of Salisbury East, is inspired by his grandfather Cyril Coaby, who co-founded the Aboriginal Sobriety Group which gives people an outlet to fight addiction.
“He was a great leader in his community, always welcomed people and had a pretty big heart,” Jackson said of Cyril, who died in 2021.
Jackson, a member of the Tjindu Foundation that works with Indigenous youth to create opportunities, plans to spend his scholarship on his tertiary studies, where he hopes to study sports science.
Fellow students Seth Kayser, Tayah Coulthard-Todd, Kaylee Trenerry, Juliana Lanzilli and Amber Cameron will also receive scholarships after they stood out at the event for their ideas to improve the future of the state.
Head of The Advertiser Foundation Dan Demaria was impressed by the students as they made their speeches.
“I sat in Parliament last Thursday and watched all 29 Teen Parliamentarians present – I’m happy to say our future is in safe hands,” he said.
Teen Parliament was held in the House of Assembly, under the guidance of Speaker Dan Cregan, where students engaged in spirited debate on the pressing issues in SA.
Juliana, 16, from Concordia College, spoke of the need for financial education in schools.
“Implementing compulsory financial education from reception until Year 12 can help us young people avoid poor financial decisions that take years to overcome,” she said.
Her scholarship was sponsored by HomeStart. HomeStart chief executive Andrew Mills said:
“Our support is part of an ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for young South Australians to shape their own futures through education.”
Tayah, 16, of the Tjindu Foundation, petitioned for equal access to education for Indigenous people.
“I am passionate about aboriginal students having the opportunity and access to education,” she said.
Kaylee, 17, from Seaford Secondary College called for more opportunities for girls in sports.
“The South Australian government should be implementing into our schools a more diverse and inclusive range of sporting options for our girls,” she said.
Amber, 16, from Port Broughton Area School, spoke about the need for reform in South Australian education including a more flexible curriculum.
“We must create a system that nurtures individuality and provides multiple early secondary pathways that are relevant to students futures,” she said.
Seth, 16, from Port Lincoln High School, wants a nuclear-powered future for the state and said it would ease cost of living expenses.
“The reason our energy bills are so expensive is that we still rely on fossil fuel energy and don’t have enough renewables to replace,” he said.
Sponsors of this year’s scholarships, presented in partnership with the Advertiser Foundation, are Elders, UniSA, Walker Corp, HomeStart, Thomson Geer Lawyers and the Adelaide Economic Development Agency.
Originally published as Prime Minister praises SA Teen Parliament scholarship winners
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