A GROUP of students from Mount Clear, Phoenix, and Woodmans Hill colleges have attended the 2023 Magic Moments Youth Leadership Summit.<\/p>\n
Held at Collaroy in New South Wales by the Magic Moments Foundation, the five-day program has a focus on personal development\u00a0for\u00a014 to 17 year olds and aims\u00a0to improve their life\u00a0skills and confidence.<\/p>\n
The local students received financial backing from Community Bank Buninyong, the Ballarat chapter of Soroptimist International, and the Lions Club of Sebastopol and District to get there.<\/p>\n
Community Bank Buninyong community partnerships lead Kelly Bevan said it\u2019s the first summit they\u2019ve been able to send a group to since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gradually increasing the number of young people we can support each time, and this year we sent 14,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith more than $24,000, we funded 12, and brought in the Soroptimists and Lions as some community partners, who provided $2000 each to fund two students.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to keep increasing the size of the group we do send because when the students come back, we know from their feedback that the summit is so worthwhile.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery student should have the opportunity to participate in something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mount Clear College teacher, and Soroptimist member, Beth Burgess, said she often seeks additional chances for students to undertake\u00a0extracurricular\u00a0activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of kids just don\u2019t get the opportunity to access the support of community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a lot of young people, they\u2019d never be able to afford to go on a camp to Sydney, and gain access to the amazing amount of worldwide speakers at the summit that fly in and deliver amazing programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of them aren\u2019t quite sure what they want to achieve in life before they go, and the growth you see within that week is incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a Soroptimist point of view, we knew we could make a big difference in a female student\u2019s life, and give that particular student more confidence to reach their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participant Naomi said the summit was a welcoming environment, and she felt free to be herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met so many awesome people that do great things, it was inspirational, emotional, and motivating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was so supportive and respected my boundaries. I felt incredibly accepted, and I wasn’t nervous to tell people what I could and couldn’t do regarding my religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s safe to say that magic moments truly changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A GROUP of students from Mount Clear, Phoenix, and Woodmans Hill colleges have attended the 2023 Magic Moments Youth Leadership Summit. Held at Collaroy in New South Wales by the Magic Moments Foundation, the five-day program has a focus on personal development\u00a0for\u00a014 to 17 year olds and aims\u00a0to improve their life\u00a0skills and confidence. The local […]<\/p>\n