Community and Service
Community and Service Tutor
Akram Azimi, the Young Australian of The Year for 2013, has now been employed as Community and Service Tutor on Friday afternoons. Akram will work with boys in the Year 10 Community and Service programme and will also be available to assist senior students until 4.00pm.
Akram Azimi was born in Afghanistan and arrived in Australia in 1999. Although initially struggling at school, Akram went on to become an outstanding student. He topped the tertiary entrance exam scores among his classmates. He is now studying a triple major - law, science and arts - along with two honours, at the University of Western Australia. Intent on giving back to his country, over the last 7 years, Akram has used his leadership and pastoral skills to mentor young people in remote and rural Western Australia. In 2011 he co-founded a student-run initiative "I am the other", which aims to address reconciliation issues at the non-Indigenous end of the equation. Akram has also mentored a Special Olympics athlete to help raise community awareness of disability issues. Through 1000+ speeches as Young Australian of the Year, Akram passionately advocated for the eradication of polio and extreme poverty. His efforts, in collaboration with many others, contributed to a pledge made by the Australian Government to invest $80 million in 2013, and $20 million in 2014, in polio eradication.
Akram has a unique set of experiences and skills that make him a very good mentor for senior boys as they prepare for graduation from secondary school and enter the next stage of their lives. He has a passion for learning and for service. Any boy who would like to meet Akram can find him, in the Senior School Library each Friday afternoon of term.
UnitingCare West - Food Rescue
It was pleasing to be informed that three Scotch families responded to the request from Food Rescue for assistance with food collection during the Summer break. Parents and boys manned the food carts to collect fresh but unsold food from cafes in the central areas of the city - for distribution to the homeless and needy families. There is an opportunity now for senior boys to take on the responsibility of manning the carts on a regular basis each Friday afternoon. Providing the logistics of this can be finalised, it is hoped that Scotch boys will be a working for the Food Rescue agency following the mid-term break.
Round Square
Scotch College was represented at the Round Square Heads and Reps meeting in Melbourne last week. This annual meeting of school leaders, held at a Round Square school within the Australasia and SE Asia Region, provides an opportunity for member schools to discuss best practice across the Round Square IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Leadership and Service. Member schools shared programmes and the new Strategic Plan for the global organisation was presented. At the meeting, the agendas for both the Junior and Senior Round Square conferences were discussed. This week interviews are being held with Year 8 boys who have applied to attend the Junior- regional conference in Adelaide in April. Early next term, senior school students will be asked to apply for the Senior World Conference to be held in Singapore in October. These meeting and conferences, along with student exchanges enhance our presence in the region and around the world and provide opportunities for engagement on a range of issues relevant to teaching and learning.
People Who Care
Year 10 Scotch boys will now be working with the organisation 'People Who Care'. This organization provides gardening and transport assistance to the aged and disabled. Boys will be helping to maintain gardens in the northern suburbs each Friday afternoon. Our partnership with People Who Care will enhance the opportunities for this type of work that has come through our long-term partnership with Volunteer Task Force.
Year 10 Service Programme
The Year 10 service programme started in Week 2 with boys taking part in 18 distinct activities. The boys going to Tranby Day Centre in East Perth were introduced to two homeless men addicted to methamphetamine. They spoke to the boys about their lives and how they came to be in their present situation. Boys in the r.u.MAD (Are You Making a Difference?) group listened to Scott Nodwell (OSC'03) a counselor with Youth Focus talk about how he came to be working with youth at risk. The group that went to Balga worked with recently arrived refugees and migrants in the Intensive English Language Unit at Balga SHS. Other boys worked with clients at Rocky Bay Inc, Braemar Presbyterian Homes and the Quadriplegic Centre in Shenton Park. Our association with Friends of Lake Claremont continued with a group working to rehabilitate the lake ecoststem. The programme is extensive informed by the Scotch College Service Model that has as its drivers: INSPIRE, CONNECT, NURTURE and SUSTAIN.
Mr WJR Cordner
Director of Community Service
