Recently our Gawler Belt Campus Captains, Emily, Ryan and Bridie joined ten other students from six different local schools and programs and Member for Light, Tony Piccolo MP, for a Student Leaders Seminar in Parliament House.

Students from the Gawler Youth Advisory Committee, Gawler and District College, Northern Adelaide Senior College, St Patrick’s Technical College, Trinity College, and Xavier College participated. The seminar builds on the leadership programs developed at Xavier College and introduces real-world experiences from political issues to showcase different avenues students can take to solve problems. ‘The students really engaged with the speakers and the feedback has been great in terms of the amount of knowledge they’ve taken away along with their ideas for future pathways,’ said Mr Piccolo, ‘the guests we had are experts and on top of the game in their respective fields, so students were able to quiz them about their journeys and learn from their stories’. Dr Rodrigo Praino, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, spoke about democracy and its inner-workings, local lawyer Natasha Jones discussed how to solve and deal with difficult problems and political process advocate Lauren Conceicao talked about how to make a difference within the political process.

Students were also treated to a tour of Parliament, lunch and refreshments throughout the day. This continues Mr Piccolo’s work in providing leadership opportunities for future community leaders, including giving students emcee roles at public events and annual forums for leadership students.

Costas Efthymiou
Cross Campus Curriculum and Wellbeing Coordinator