It was with great pride that Ms Hart, Ms Alamidis and I attended the VicSRC Recognition Awards where Tabitha Anderson was one of three finalists for the prestigious Newsboys Foundation Youth Leadership Award. The Newsboys Foundation Youth Leadership Award is awarded to a Year 12 student who provides exceptional leadership within their school and community. Students make a video nomination and the three finalists are then interviewed by a panel of judges.
The evening opened with Deputy Premier and Minister for Education James Merlino MP, giving an inspiring speech talking about the importance and impact of student voice. He then announced that from 2018, all government school councils must include at least one student member with full voting rights. This has been the case at ESC for a number of years and something to be celebrated.
Even though she was runner up for the Newsboys Foundation Youth Leadership Award, Tabitha won $1,000 to invest in student leadership, SRC, education, student voice activities or social change initiatives.
Tabitha has made an outstanding contribution to our college in a number of different ways and her passion and enthusiasm for student voice and empowerment will be missed. Fortunately, we are already making plans for her to help mentor some of the 2018 student leaders.
Sara-Jane Smith
Student Leader Coordinator