St Joseph's Catholic High School Albion Park
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16 Macquarie St
Albion Park NSW 2527
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Email: info@sjchsdow.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 4230 8500

Academy for Enterprising Girls

On Monday the 27th March, 38 students, along with Mrs Gregory and Miss Janson partook in the Academy for Enterprising Girls workshop. It is run by the Young Change Agents Organisation. Young Change Agents' social entrepreneurship programs help youth to see problems as opportunities.

 

Students worked in teams in this "hackathon-style" workshop to identify problems within their communities then ideate, validate, prototype and pitch. Eight social enterprise ideas were pitched to a panel of judges.

 

Community Problems Identified

Students discussed what community meant to them and worked to identify problems and create a vision for the future they want to create. Community problems identified by youth included:

  • Lack of important topics covered in sex ed classes.
  • Teenagers feeling isolated and judged due to social pressure and bullying.
  • Girls treating each other negatively due to societal insecurity.
  • Children of sweatshop workers being unable to get an education.

 

Student Social Enterprise Ideas

  • The judge's choice award went to: Let's talk about Sex Ed, a modern education company that provides effective sex-ed for high school students through highly qualified professionals.

 

Other ideas included:

  • An educational events company that raises awareness around cultural assumptions and stereotypes.
  • A wearables company that provides affordable emergency support for those without mobile phones.
  • A company that provides tampons and pads in machines with subsidised products for young women.
  • A mentoring platform connecting young girls with female mentors to help them reach their full potential.

 

Skills Developed

Throughout the program youth teams worked their way through a number of activities, developing skills in multiple core competencies whilst preparing for the final pitch. Identifying a problem, creating a social enterprise solution and developing an idea which solves a problem they care about and pitching for feedback.

  • Critical thinking
  • Creativity
  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Problem solving
  • Storytelling
  • Decision making
  • Pitching
  • Leadership
  • Design thinking
  • Budgeting
  • Managing time