Students lead Vivid Kyabram’s first ‘Youth Take Over’

By Jemma Jones

May 14, 2024

Flying start: The Youth Take Over project is well under way, with the collaboration between St Augustine’s and Vivid Kyabram commemorated with a barbecue on Friday, May 10. Photo by Jemma Jones

Students from St. Augustine’s gathered at Vivid Kyabram for a sausage sizzle on Friday, May 10, to mark the commencement of Kyabram’s first ‘Youth Take Over’ project in collaboration with Vivid.

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It was a cloudy, rainy day, but that did not stop the students and attendees of the commencement barbecue from cooking up a storm of sausages and onions for a delicious lunch to mark the special occasion.

Sixteen students from St Augustine’s will work closely with the Kyabram and Echuca Vivid teams to create youth-targeted content that promotes the organisation to the community.

Big appetites: St Augustine’s students and Vivid clients mingled over ice-breaker games and a sausage sizzle. Photo by Jemma Jones

The program will count towards the students’ VCE Vocational Major studies, providing a unique and practical learning experience.

Vivid Youth Take Over project leader Debbie Rogerson addressed the students in a speech at the commencement barbecue.

“This is the beginning of an amazing 10-week journey of learning for the students along the way of solving, or support solving, a challenge to provide Vivid to the community of Kyabram,” Mrs Rogerson said.

“This is your project, and this is your community — help make Vivid known and viable to the community of Kyabram.”

Vivid chief executive Scott Alexander addressed the students and welcomed them to the Vivid team.

Signed off: Vivid chief executive Scott Alexander and project officer Debbie Rogerson handed the reins over to the students, who have now begun their journey with Vivid. Photo by Jemma Jones

“I look at a community like Kyabram, and I wholeheartedly embrace the Youth Take Over project, so feel free — take over Vivid, embrace us,” Mr Alexander said.

“What we hope to achieve out of this project is for you to have a great time, get a lot out of it, develop Vivid’s profile within the community, and get to know Vivid better.

“You may be very young, but you still have life experience and perspective that we will value — so welcome aboard,” he said.

St Augustine’s students Max, Isaiah and Matt, along with their VCE VM teacher, Bianca Moore, also spoke at the barbecue.

Mission: Students Max, Isaiah and Matt spoke of the values they hoped to uphold as part of the project. Photo by Jemma Jones

“As a class, we are really excited to work and acknowledge you all in the wider community and highlight what Vivid can offer for people,” Isaiah said.

“We’re looking forward to surveying the public, collecting data and creating a wide range of promotional materials that Vivid could potentially use in the future,” Mrs Moore said.

“We want to empower the community and aim to educate people about the incredible organisation of Vivid and how they positively impact our local community,” Matt said.

“All of us have created goals about how we can positively promote as well as engage with our wider community … it means so much to us as a class to have the chance to represent the school,” Max said.

It is the first time the program has come to Kyabram, and Mrs Rogerson hopes it will not be the last.

“It’s a pilot program that we're hoping to carry out again and again,” she said.

“It’s really special to have the backing of the local organisations such as the radio station and the Free Press to work with the students and get the word out about their work with Kyabram Vivid.

“We find that Kyabram Vivid falls to the wayside in comparison to the Echuca office, so we’re hoping that this program draws more eyes to Kyabram.”

Keep an eye out for the student’s work as they ‘take over’ Vivid in upcoming Free Press editions.