Shepparton students will have the chance to tell their stories to the nation as the ABC and VicHealth’s youth program Takeover comes to the city.
The program, which has taken place in Melbourne and Broken Hill before coming to Shepparton, has ABC producer Swathi Shanmukhasundaram excited.
“We’ve been quite overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, which is the best thing,” Ms Shanmukhasundaram said.
“The reason for coming to Shepparton was really just there’s so many great young people here.
“Shepp has such a high youth population, but it also really, we were looking for young people who were enthusiastic about telling their stories.”
She had heard about children who were dealing with bullying and disability but also about injuries playing sport and what their friends were up to.
“So I have to commend that bravery but also that they are really trusting us in those workshops to really open up and say this is something I’m dealing with,” Ms Shanmukhasundaram said.
“We talk a lot about what are the some of the challenges that kids are overcoming, or that they’re dealing with.”
The program will come to a head in May during a summit from May 16, where the students develop ideas to make the community a better place, including pitching ideas to the city’s leaders.
Secondary school students could submit entries via the Takeover Shepparton website from February 25 to April 7 at the ABC Radio Takeover Shepparton website
