My Community Project: TLG speaks to Scotch students about making a difference.
This story was written by TLG Public Relations Officer, Anne-Marie White.
TLG volunteer, Matthew Morrish speaks to Scotch College students.
Earlier in February, Teach Learn Grow (TLG) Marketing Officer, Matthew Morrish and I, spoke to Year 8 students at Scotch College about how they could make a difference in their local community.
The visit was part of a ‘Launch Day’ for a six-month Community Project to be undertaken by the Year 8 students during semester one. Matthew and I represented the work TLG does to support local communities in regional and rural Australia and how the organisation improves the education of primary school students. A number of other organisations were also present including Cottesloe CoastCare Australia and Floreat Surf Lifesaving Club, to help provide the students with inspiration for their project.
The Community Project requires the Year 8 students to identify a need in their community and come up with a proposal for how they would address this issue. Following this, they will need to engage in service activities connected to their proposal and, finally, present their project to their school and wider community. Matthew and I took part in the ‘speed-dating’ component of the Launch Day. Representatives of several community organisations sat at different tables, and groups of students rotated between them according to a bell which rang every couple of minutes.
Matthew and I chatted to several groups of students about TLG’s Rural Program and eMentor Program. We explained that TLG’s mission is to improve the educational outcomes and aspirations of rural and remote students in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas so that they can reach their full potential. We stressed the fact that the majority of TLG’s work and impact is carried out by volunteer university students, a testament to the fact that you don’t need to wait until you’ve finished school or university to start making a difference.
Matthew emphasized that one of the most impactful things the students could do, in addition to fundraising, was to volunteer their time towards a meaningful cause. "Anne and I were given the privilege to represent TLG to the Year 8 students of Scotch College,” he said, “it was excellent being able to speak to such conscientious students about the education gap."
TLG’s involvement in the Launch Day follows on from our previous collaboration with Scotch College through our School’s Outreach Program. This program, aims to involve metropolitan high school students in TLG’s work by educating these students about the education gap and giving them a chance to volunteer for TLG.
Schools who are interested in participating in TLG’s School’s Outreach Program should contact Community Outreach Officer, Ngoc-Mai Duong, at communityoutreach@teachlearngrow.org.au.