Young to lead the way

By JESSE GRAHAM

YOUNG people from around the Yarra Valley and Dandenongs will gather in Mount Evelyn this Thursday for the council’s Yarra Ranges Youth Summit.
The summit, held at Mount Evelyn Discovery Church on Thursday 16 April, will host over 400 Year 9 students from around the municipality and is organised by Yarra Ranges Youth Services.
The summit will explore youth issues, such as cyber safety, and will teach the teenagers skills to manage these issues, while also providing teachers with resources to follow up the ideas in their classrooms.
The Yarra Ranges event will be held as part of National Youth Week 2015, which has the theme of “it starts with us.”
Mayor Maria McCarthy said the council wanted to empower and inspire young people in the community, giving them the tools to deal with challenging situations.
“It is so important that we inspire young people to achieve, and by doing so provide a positive image of the great young people we have in our community,” she said.
Guest presenters, comedian Sammy J and Beyondblue ambassador and anti-homophobia campaigner, Jason Ball, will speak to the students at the summit and will be joined by Indigenous Hip Hop Projects and Project Rockit.
For a report on the summit, see next week’s Mail.