STUDENTS at Swan Hill’s FLO campus have been breaking down stereotypes and barriers as part of a community-awareness project.
The project aims to encourage students to engage with community groups and people they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to associate with.
This term students from FLO’s Green Room have teamed up with students at Swan Hill Specialist School for an afternoon of fun activities, which have seen new friendships bloom.
“It’s all about being out in the community and engaging with different people,” teacher Lea Charnock said.
Ms Charnock said she’d seen remarkable growth within the students since the initiative began.
“In the first week, the students were all very shy and reserved and needed a bit of prompting,” she said.
“Now we’ve been doing it for a few weeks, the students are growing with confidence and running the whole show. It’s great to see them step up, take on that leadership role and be proud of what they’ve achieved.”
Year 12 student Ella Van-Heythuysen said it was great to be able to give back to the local community and work with younger students.
The FLO students are responsible for all aspects of the program, from planning activities to budgeting for supplies.
“We use the money from our cafe to purchase the things we need for our activities,” Ella said.
“Selling our coffee and slices helps fund the program.”
Honing in on their communication, organisation, planning and teamwork skills, students have engaged in a range of fun and colourful activities that have included painting pot plants, making macaroni necklaces, creating paper-plate flower crafts and decorating cookies.
Ella said she had enjoyed bonding with the students, which has also provided her with a new insight on the importance of inclusion, and embracing new opportunities.
“The students are just like every other kid,” Ella said.
“They just need a little extra support. It’s very similar to FLO is some ways.”
As the four-week program comes to an end, the FLO students said they would be sad to say goodbye to the Swan Hill Specialist students but looked forward to the next stage of the engagement program, in which students would visit aged-care residents at Alcheringa.
