Youth

The award-winning developmental screening program Healthy Kids Bus Stop makes regular visits to Murrumbidgee Local Health District and last week reached a major milestone, with the 1000th child screened in the District since visits began in 2015. The Healthy Kids Bus Stop aims to improve the health and wellbeing of children aged three to five years living in rural and remote communities through early detection of lifestyle risk factors, delayed development and/or illness.

Kendall Jennings. Unfortunately, my mind always takes a wander; I tend to overthink things and get stuck in my head. Hello, mental illness. One thing that has been on my mind recently is the decline in participation in community sport ... Over the past 12 months, I have realised that local football is not like it was 20 years ago.

Emma Pritchard. Communities from across the region, including more than 900 local school students, came together at the Maclean Showground on June 2 to attend the Clarence Valley Close the Gap Day 2022, and spread the message of the importance of embracing and achieving equality in the health, education, justice and employment aspects of First Nations people.

Duncan Taylor can’t wait for the Cooktown university hub to open and for local people to realise its potential ... Mr Taylor said there were many challenges that regional Australians faced that were different to their city counterparts and having a university hub in Cooktown would help the local community.

Pam Dillon. Teachers became students for a day when the Barkly Region Sport Education Coordinator, Pam Dillon visited to present professional development in the form of First Aid, CPR Update and Physical Literacy training. Staff members worked hard after school being assessed for First Aid and CPR after completing an online component.

Maldon Auskick Centre was lucky enough to have Maddy Pieper, AFL Central Vic Auskick Champion, run a session with the group last week. The kids, though always well behaved, were extra attentive to Maddy.

Thanks to the John Moriarty Football (JMF) and Australian Blind Football (ABF) partnership blind and vision impaired (BVI) Aboriginal children will be able to participate in JMF’s transformational program through the use of audible balls ... JMF Co-Founder and Co-Chair and the first Indigenous footballer to be selected to play for Australia, Yanyuwa man John Moriarty said the partnership is game changing.

Kendall Jennings. The inaugural ‘Girls Footy Festival’ made its stop at Kerang on Sunday, May 15. Three games of Under 14s girls football kicked off the action in the morning, supported by a match from the Bendigo Junior Football League Under 18 girls scheduled to play at Woorinen, which was moved to Kerang, followed by a Central Victorian Women's League match in the afternoon.

A Charles Sturt University early childhood education expert asks where in the 2022 election campaign is the commitment to big investment and to big policy ideas that ensure free and accessible early childhood education for the long-term? Dr Leanne Gibbs tells ARR.News how the challenges in workforce supply and retention in the ECE sector are even greater in rural, regional and remote areas within Australia.

Kirstin Nicholson. There has been a buzz of activity amongst the Cohuna Lions Club’s Leos and Cubs. The Leos and Cubs, which comprise children aged 9 to 18, have been busy sewing items for children in flood-affected Lismore, New South Wales.

Gabrielle Duykers. A young Naracoorte wool classer has claimed top honours at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. Twenty-year-old Sarah Haynes won the 2022 Australian Wool Exchange/TAFE National Graduate Woolclasser competition on April 12, making her the first South Australian to receive the prestigious award.

Some of the country’s leading scientists have taken to the skies in a bid to inspire students across Central Queensland to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Science Minister Meaghan Scanlon said this year’s Flying Scientists trip would be led by former Australian of the Year Professor Ian Frazer AC.

The Narrandera High School agricultural show team has followed up on their recent success of champion school at the National Angora Trophy Show in Goulburn by taking out the champion school title in the Angora Goats section at the Sydney Royal Easter Show for the second year in a row.

Careers education in Australia’s schools is grossly inadequate, according to a new report by the National Youth Commission Australia. The report cites young people's negative experiences, such as not being provided with adequate classes or information on career options or pathways post-secondary school education.

For the 2022 Kempsey Show Young Woman of the Year Competition we have a fantastic array of young women entered across the three categories: seniors, teens and juniors.

Born and raised in Lismore, 22-year-old Kashmir Miller is proud to be The Greens candidate for the seat of Page in the 2022 Federal Election. After experiencing the catastrophic floods which devastated Northern NSW, Ms Miller said during the past month locals have “watched the climate catastrophe arrive in our communities and our homes.”

New members of the third annual Regional Youth Taskforce have met for the first time at Dubbo Zoo to discuss important issues affecting young people in regional NSW. The taskforce provides policy and operational advice to the NSW Government to advance the needs of young people in the bush.

Over 30 years ago Lockhart resident Jean Urquhart competed in the final of the State Rich Fruit Cake Competition held at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show and now this year her great granddaughter Grace Cox is following in her great grandmother’s footsteps.

Plans for a Regional University Centre in Port Lincoln are gaining momentum, with the City of Port Lincoln supporting a proposal for a local university hub. Offering a range of tertiary education options, a university hub would fill a gap in the local and regional education market, providing options for residents to study locally.

The April school holidays are almost here, and with it brings the return of the Critter Trail on Chapman: an interactive experience for young detectives. Coordinated by the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery (GRAG), the Critter Trail is a series of art pieces along the CBD portion of Chapman Road depicting critters that have ‘borrowed’ art from the City’s Collection.