The community of Merredin welcomed the Shooting Stars program with open arms last week, attending the official community launch at Merredin College.
The Shooting Stars program, now serving 19 sites across Western and South Australia, provides advocacy and support, engagement activities, rewards, and health and wellbeing sessions to strengthen the confidence and cultural identity of Aboriginal girls and women and help cultivate positive attitudes towards their health and wellbeing.
Sam Dawson, Deputy Principal: Student Services at Merredin College, was thrilled to see the implementation of the Shooting Stars program.
“To launch the Merredin Shooting Stars program with so much staff and community support was an indication of how fitting this initiative will be for Merredin College. This has been a long and sometimes difficult process to get off the ground, and Thursday’s launch was a culmination of the teamwork and enthusiasm of all involved, from our year 7-12 students to our fantastic program coordinator. We look forward to growing the program and giving our young Aboriginal women the tools to become the strong, empowered women that we know they can be.”
The program is initially covering year 7-12 students, with the vision of expanding to include year 5 and 6 students in the near future. This expansion is key in providing girls with a supportive network during those key transition years.
Shooting Stars Executive Officer, Fran Haintz, spoke of her pride in seeing the girls embrace the program.
“It’s always interesting to watch how a community, and more importantly, the girls, accept and embrace the program. I am so proud and inspired by the girls in Merredin who have already taken the program and made it their own. The joy on their faces during the launch solidifies our processes around creating collaborative community partnerships and tailoring the program for each site to ensure we’re delivering what is really needed.”
