By Aaron Cordy
EMPOWERING students to think outside the box and create ideas for a better future might sound like a crazy idea, but it is what Greater Shepparton Secondary College did with some of their year sevens.
Twenty-four High Abilities students took part in the Social Innovators program, delivered in partnership with Crazy Ideas College, for a three-day learning adventure aimed at fresh thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. The students split into groups and worked on social impact ideas, then pitched them to a community panel of mixed experiences.
Big ideas like Ecosystem Bloom, an app blending the fun of Pokémon Go to encourage people to discover native plants in their local area, and DeskoBot, a mini mentor bot designed to support young people learn, showed the creative way the students tackled issues affecting everyone.
Nadia Juma, Yousra Abkar and Ella Gibbs tackled an issue affecting women all over the world with self-cleaning sanitary pads. While that is a little beyond the year seven girls’ capabilities at the moment, they scaled down the idea to fit the now. By using their sawing classes to make reusable pads, they can benefit women the world over, while teaching skills and raising awareness to an important issue many don’t know about.
All pitches from the 24 GSSC students were creative and insightful ways to tackle issues.
“When young people are trusted with the tools and mindsets of innovation, they show us what’s possible. Their ideas and energy are exactly what’s needed to build thriving futures for themselves and their communities,” said the founder of Crazy Ideas College, Kieran Murrihy.
