Eleven Bellingen High students from years 8 and 9 have pitched their ideas for a project they will undertake to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others.

The ‘Pitch It!’ session held at the Youth Hub in August allowed the students to receive feedback from peers, mentors and facilitators from Youth Frontiers, a state government-funded youth mentoring program run locally by Mid Coast Communities and YWCA.

The projects are diverse, but all involve a young person working with a volunteer mentor who helps them define goals for a community service project and find ways to achieve them. 

Student participants either self-selected or received a friendly tap on the shoulder from a teacher.

The community is not the only beneficiary of the projects – by sharing fun activities and exposing their young partners to different experiences and new ideas, mentors are encouraging positive choices, promoting high self-esteem and supporting the students’ achievements.

The Youth Frontiers project topics chosen by the students are: 

Aliyah Partington will be working with mentor Leoni Harrison on her project about retirees and publishing the stories and photos in the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun, both on our website and in print.

“I’ve chosen to work with retirees living in the Bellingen Shire, focusing on retirees voices being heard,” Aliyah said. “I plan to interview three local retirees about their life and work and share them with the community with the support of the Bellingen Courier-Sun. My perception is that there are few opportunities for retirees to share their stories and for the community to hear them, particularly the youth.”

Having started on her project already, Aliyah had this to say about the experience of interviewing elderly people: “They’re really interesting when you start listening, and they don’t want to stop talking either!”

Youth Hub coordinator Dean Besley asked Aliyah to explain how she thought young people would benefit from hearing the stories.

“I guess it’s just about having the youth and elderly in the community being in touch and showing respect to the retirees,” Aliyah said.

She’s not expecting to make a dramatic change in cross-generation communication, but she believes working on small things can make a huge difference.

Mid Coast Communities Youth Program coordinator Bec Minichilli said: “I think it’s great on two fronts. There’s young people listening to the stories of elderly people, where there’s so much knowledge and wisdom. I also think you’re going to find there’s an effect on the elderly people that you interview. In life, we all want to be heard. We all want to be valued. And those are the two things you are doing.”

Aliyah is hoping to start publishing her stories in September. 

Later in the year, there will be a showcase of the completed community projects, students will share what they have achieved and their efforts will be recognised:

The young people with the most innovative and effective community projects will be recognised locally and within the state.