Our Year 9 students took part in the Bright Sparks summit, held at Mullumbimby High School at the beginning of the term. The summit was run by Northern Rivers Together, a social enterprise program, in which Shearwater is partnered, aimed at preparing young people in our region to become job creators rather than job seekers. 150 Year 9 and 10 students from the two schools heard from innovative local entrepreneurs, who shared their journeys to success and discussed some of the challenges and opportunities faced in our region.
Presenters included Questacon Innovation Week winners Avryl Hart and Jett Walcott (a graduate of Cape Byron Steiner School), visual effects artists Kate Auld and Raph Atkins (a Mullumbimby High School graduate), Saadi Allan (Flow Hive), Dave Keam (Skuff TV) and artist Brodie Jackson.
NRT comprises 16 organisations from the education, business, non-profit and government sectors that have partnered together with the aim of developing the skills of young people to enable them to contribute to a thriving local economy.
As Shearwater Year 9 student Louka McAllister said, "I think one of the biggest opportunities for young people in this region is the arts. It's a very creative region... so it's a great place to be if you're an entrepeneur or a business person in one of these environmental and creative new industries that are coming about in the 21st century".
The Northern Rivers region is an amazing place to grow up. However, an increasingly large proportion of young locals are having to move to larger towns or cities to seek better job prospects and opportunities. By 2030, when our Kindergarten children will be graduating, the nature of the workforce and the jobs being carried out will look very different to today.
Shearwater is excited to be partnering in this initiative aimed at supporting our young people to thrive in our region, through a whole-of-community approach focused on youth engagement, enterprise learning, developing skills and industry networks.
Thank you to Andrew Carter for his help in coordinating this event as well as Year 9 Guardians, Endre Kvia and Sandra Bain for their support and their hands on help on the day.
Steve Laughton
Shearwater Head of Operations
Presenters included Questacon Innovation Week winners Avryl Hart and Jett Walcott (a graduate of Cape Byron Steiner School), visual effects artists Kate Auld and Raph Atkins (a Mullumbimby High School graduate), Saadi Allan (Flow Hive), Dave Keam (Skuff TV) and artist Brodie Jackson.
NRT comprises 16 organisations from the education, business, non-profit and government sectors that have partnered together with the aim of developing the skills of young people to enable them to contribute to a thriving local economy.
As Shearwater Year 9 student Louka McAllister said, "I think one of the biggest opportunities for young people in this region is the arts. It's a very creative region... so it's a great place to be if you're an entrepeneur or a business person in one of these environmental and creative new industries that are coming about in the 21st century".
The Northern Rivers region is an amazing place to grow up. However, an increasingly large proportion of young locals are having to move to larger towns or cities to seek better job prospects and opportunities. By 2030, when our Kindergarten children will be graduating, the nature of the workforce and the jobs being carried out will look very different to today.
Shearwater is excited to be partnering in this initiative aimed at supporting our young people to thrive in our region, through a whole-of-community approach focused on youth engagement, enterprise learning, developing skills and industry networks.
Thank you to Andrew Carter for his help in coordinating this event as well as Year 9 Guardians, Endre Kvia and Sandra Bain for their support and their hands on help on the day.
Steve Laughton
Shearwater Head of Operations