Youth
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It’s bean a big learning curve
A teenage entrepreneur from Newstead has used the skills he learned as a barista and trainee coffee roaster to start up his own coffee roasting business. Seventeen-year-old Josh Rodgers trained under the guidance of Lachy and Laura Evans at Moto Bean Coffee Roasters in Malmsbury and currently works as a barista at the Social Foundry…
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Rock and Roll stars
Forty-five enthusiastic students at Trentham District Primary school helped plant, fence, tag and monitor 32 nationally endangered basalt peppercress (Lepidium hyssopifolium) plants in a new native garden at the school. Known as the Rock and Roll stars of the plant kingdom, because they are short lived and party hard, the plants can be difficult to…
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Up in lights
Hollywood Theatre will soon light up for two young Woodend filmmakers. Flynn Mazza and Kale McQuade were named winners of the International Youth Silent Film Festival’s regional finals for their murder mystery Suspected. Their three-minute film follows a detective interviewing four suspects and their work is now bound for the international finals to be held…
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It takes a village
Gisborne Leading Senior Constable Jason Azzopardi could not stand by as he saw the impact of issues like bullying, mental illness, substance abuse and family violence on youth in his community. To help young people avoid becoming victims or offenders, he created not-for-profit youth engagement program KidzFlip, and was recently recognised for his work as…
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‘Big K’ a big hit
Young Ava Coleman has taken the war on waste and waistlines to her school canteen. The grade six Kyneton Primary School student has campaigned to take flavoured milks like Big Ms off the menu and replace them with Big Ks or ‘Big Kyneton’ milkshakes to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bottles generated. “I have…
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400 reasons to celebrate
Ask learner drivers Lily McMahon and Tilly Donkin what they’ve got out of doing a unique intensive local learner driver course and they’re quick to respond. Both learner drivers immediately list gaining better parking skills among the obvious benefits of participating in the Maldon and District Community Bank learner driver program, while driving in testing…
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Colour runs riot
What better way to celebrate life in all its charm, chaos and occasional confusion than with a riotous celebration of colour. And so it was at Castlemaine Secondary College on Thursday when staff and students took time out beneath a perfect blue sky to participate in the annual Colour Run. First up, a brisk jog…
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School celebrates a rainbow first
Plenty of purple was promenaded as Castlemaine Secondary College raised its first-ever rainbow flag with pride on Friday. A party atmosphere prevailed as Castlemaine Secondary College celebrated Wear It Purple Day in support of young LGBTIQ local students and others beyond the local community. “Wear it Purple Day is about showing rainbow young people, and…
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Indie rock wins battle
Indie rock group Dr. Frisco brought the wow-factor to win Macedon Ranges’ Battle of the Bands heat on Saturday. The Braemar College schoolmates will take their talent to regional finals in December. The Macedon Ranges heat attracted a 150-strong crowd at the Kyneton Town Hall. The runner-up was Crane and a judge’s talent award went…
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Parma charmer
When Castlemaine youngsters Kate Hemphill and Ainsley Nash heard about the impacts of the drought in NSW they decided they’d do something to help. The two junior students at Castlemaine Primary School went direct to their principal Peter McConnell with a letter they’d penned outlining their proposal to help the drought-ravaged farmers. “We wrote a…
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Foundry’s first grads
One of Kyneton’s newest foodie hotspots, the Social Foundry on the corner of High and Mollison Streets, is celebrating the first round of graduates from its successful Skills for Life program. Together with the Kyneton Community and Learning Centre, the Social Foundry has the united goal of training and assisting young people who need to…
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For youth, by youth
Young people helped design Macedon Ranges Shire’s draft youth strategy and now the shire is hoping more young people will have their say now the document is open to community comment. The draft strategy has been titled Elevate by its young codesigners, who say it aims to actively elevate the voices and desires of young…
