School captains show leadership for others
What was just an idea two months ago has now become a reality for Warragul Regional College school captains Fletcher Smith, Olivia Reiher, Lachlan Brown and Emily Jones.
While sitting in a meeting, the four captains decided that while the COVID-19 pandemic had kept many students apart, they were still strongest together and wanted to spread the message far and wide.
The captains had been creating videos for their school page throughout the year, encouraging students to continue to stay positive, but hoped they could take it further.
They decided to create a social media post reaching out to other school captains to get involved in the making of a video. The overnight response shocked the captains, with more than 100 captains from 40 schools jumping on board.
Fletcher said he couldn’t believe how quickly the idea took off after hoping to only reach other local schools..
“We had schools from Melbourne, Wodonga, Tallangatta, Berwick, Wheelers Hill, Carrum and more, we were blown away with the response. We put together a script and then sent it out and received their clips back,” he said.
Throughout the video titled ‘A message from the school captains of Victoria’ they encouraged others to create positive change from the situation. United as one, they wanted to let people know that there is a silver lining to everything and to drive home the fact that this is only temporary.
While it’s been a tough and challenging year for students, the captains signed off by congratulating their fellow year 12 pupils and wished them the best as they head towards exams in November.
Fletcher said that while the captains may have been the driving force behind the video at the college, he acknowledged the hard work, time and effort many others went to in order to produce the video, from gathering the clips and writing the scripts to editing the final piece.
They also reached out to Education Minister James Merlino beforehand but didn’t receive a reply. They have since emailed the video to him, hoping the video and its message is recognised.
Fletcher hoped the video would be an encouragement to the captains next year, that anything is possible and to stay connected despite the challenges they may face.
“We’ve been surprised by the number of schools who have come on board and it proves that smaller country schools can also help make big change, it’s provoked good conversations and connections,” he said.
The video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJcV8Dq ZKQ