High school students from Uralla and Guyra Central Schools, Duval High School, The Armidale School, O’Connor Catholic College and participants from BackTrack attended an Aboriginal Youth Development Camp at the University of New England.
The Oorala Aboriginal Centre hosted the two-day camp for male students in years 9–12 last week.
The camp was organised in conjunction with the Narwan Eels football team, SportsUNE and the Regional Australia Bank; and hosted a broad range of sessions designed to build aspirations towards tertiary study within the Armidale Aboriginal community.
These sessions included short lectures from academic staff from Health, Science and Business; the development of leadership, team work, goal setting and financial management skills; and gym and field training sessions at SportsUNE.
Local Anaiwan mentors, Mr Clarrie Moran Jnr, Mr Fred Waters, Mr Dennis Moran, Mr Justin Doyle and Mr Patrick Strong, worked alongside former professional rugby league player and current Indigenous Education and Welfare officer for the NRL, Mr Dean Widders; and Mr Paul Sinclair, previous Education Director for the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) to provide strong male role models for the camp participants.
Across the two days the camp focused on four core values of Leadership, Communication, Mindfulness and Respect. At the culmination of the camp four students were awarded prizes during a formal dinner held at Booloominbah, for demonstrating these values across the two days. The prizes, donated by the Regional Australia Bank, saw the winning students pick up a bank account with a starting balance of $100. These students are:
- Zac Craig (BackTrack) – for leadership, communication, mindfulness and respect for others.
- Paul Jackson (Uralla Central School) – for leadership, mindfulness and respect.
- Max Qorovarua (TAS) – for leadership and respect.
- Kobi Hall(TAS) – for leadership, communication, mindfulness and respect.
The memorable two days would not have been possible without the support of the local Armidale Aboriginal community, Aboriginal Student Ambassadors Bryce Wilson and Birrillee Vale ,Oorala Staff and Mr David Schmude from UNELife.