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Celebrities talk at youth forum

May 23, 2005

Hundreds of schoolchildren from across NSW will converge on The University of New England on Thursday for the first Armidale event in a series of national youth forums.
Called "Step to the Future", the program engages local high-school students in organising the forums, at which prominent Australians speak about their road to success.
Some of the speakers at this week’s forum include author and commentator Barbara Holborow, quadriplegic farmer Sam Bailey and Lieutenant Amanda Jane MacKinnell, Head of Physical and Personnel Security for Kuttabul and Garden Island dockyard.
Mr John Kauter, the UNE organiser of the event, said there were still places available for schoolchildren who had not yet enrolled in the forum.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for youths aged between 15 and 18 years to listen to inspirational speakers talk frankly about both success and failure," Mr Kauter said.
“In the question-and-answer sessions that follow each talk, the students are not afraid to ask the hard questions. Comment from the students can become very emotional."
Some of the schools participating so far include Calrossy and Oxley High Schools in Tamworth, Barraba Central High School and all of Armidale’s secondary schools.
Earlier this year, 40 members of the student organising committee, from secondary schools in Armidale and Tamworth, met to plan the content, management, sponsorship and promotion of the forum. There will be six speakers in all.
Speakers at previous forums have included General Peter Cosgrove, Dr Pat O'Shane, Wendy Harmer and Louise Sauvage. "I left feeling very inspired" is a typical comment from student participants in the forums.
The National Executive Director of Step to the Future, Robert Van Houten, said the event at UNE would be one of 21 throughout the country in 2005-6.
He explained that the program had begun in Sydney as a pilot project in 2002, and that its immediate success had led to events in other State capitals and Canberra (as well as its debut in regional NSW) in 2003. The program aims to provide 15-18-year-olds with positive role models, motivation, and an insight into the lives of people prominent in a wide variety of fields, including business, politics, entertainment and sport.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at May 23, 2005 01:24 PM