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Our guest speaker this week was Josie Wilson from the Rotary Club of Pakenham, who presented information on the Junior Community Awards Program.The Junior Community Award was originally designed by late Mitchell River Rotarian and school principal David Hawkey, to help develop resilience in young students.
It is specifically designed for students in grade 6. It is non-competitive and can be achieved by children of all physical and mental abilities.
The program engages students in four main areas of endeavour to be completed over the school year:
- community service - undertakes community volunteer work, such as 10 weeks of service of 1 hour per week assisting an individual, or an organisation
- social experience - takes part in a community event, or attends an art exhibition, or experiences a different culture
- physical recreation - shows personal improvement in a physical activity
- skill development - learns a new skill, or improves an existing skill
A key component of the program is that the student maintains a diary, in which they present one page reports on their experience and achievements.
Rotary Clubs sponsor the schools, but the teachers and parents organise all of the experiences required to enable students to meet their goals.
Rotary Clubs provide the diaries and inspect the finished products to determine whether an award is merited.
The Award promotes, leadership, confidence, self-worth, knowledge of the community, skill for life, positive values and social values.
Josie reported that 36 students from Pakenham Springs and St Patrick's Primary Schools received the Award recently.
