Chairmans Report

Catherine can be described as a one of our dynamic future leaders. She gave a passionate speech about her upcoming trip to the UK and where she’ll position herself on her return. Everyone in the room left the table with a renewed sense of optimism, uplifted by the enthusiasm of this incredible 18 year old Arts student.

 

            Catherine has lived in Aireys Inlet (Hairy Singlet) all her life. A community minded student who in year 11, was chosen to be Victoria’s Rural Youth Ambassador. She travelled regional Victoria and had the ear of the State Education Minister Martin Dixon who listened intently to her presentations. In year 12 she accepted a nomination by the state Youth Affairs Minister, Ryan Smith to be on his Youth Advisory Committee. Her current portfolio on this committee is “Youth Involvement”

            Last year Catherine was awarded the honour of “Young Citizen of the Year” by the Surfcoast Shire for not only her work in rural Victoria, but also for her volunteer work with people with disabilities in our area.

            This year she was invited to join Minister Dixon’s “Youth Reference Group” to represent Victoria’s rural students and now she has accepted an invitation to join the “Country Education Project” to tour England & Scotland with one other student and 10 school principals. Their aim is to establish a culture of improvement through collaboration in Victorian schools, to engage young people particularly in rural areas to use modern teaching technologies to build alliances and develop sustainable leadership skills.

            This Group will be visiting 3 key academies in the UK which have strong ties to philanthropic and sporting organizations then on their return will report their findings directly to the Minister.

            Rotary Club of Torquay wished her and her team well and thanked her for an inspiring speech.

 

Trevor Brown - Chairman