On Wednesday 17 May, QAHS Gold Coast Junior council representatives had the second meeting for 2023 at the Broadbeach Cultural Precinct. To support a new plan implemented by Junior Council, QAHS was invited to help with registration on the day. Genevieve, Rihanna and I arrived early to assist in the registration process and experienced some behind-the-scenes work that the organisation team do regularly for us to make everything happen.
The highlight of the day was the City of Gold Coast Expo, where students met representatives from different organisations and departments face-to-face to learn about the available services and opportunities on the Gold Coast for students and youth. From participating in surveys, activities, and fun events, we gained a great understanding of the city's economy, sustainable development, education opportunities and support.
As the sixth largest city and second largest regional city council in Australia, the Gold Coast is growing faster than ever with people from different fields working together. As the next generation, we are the future of our city. The Expo excellently demonstrates how we, as the youth sector on the Gold Coast, can contribute to the city's development. Whether it is to choose public transport over cars, minimise our carbon footprint, or volunteer to give back to the community, we can all take part in this and build a better Gold Coast.
Furthermore, junior council members were presented with the great opportunity to have a panel discussion with divisional councillors on the Gold Coast. QAHS Year 10 student, Rihanna Patel, was among sixteen junior council members who participated in this panel moderated by Nicole Dyer from the ABC. During the panel, students asked questions to the councillors about the issues they are concerned about, and answered councillors' questions from a youth perspective.
This meeting also allowed us to strengthen our connections with other members of the Junior Council. Our table had a wonderful discussion by listing the inspiring female leaders from the past and present and what we can learn from them.
At the end of the meeting, we were informed about an amazing way to get access to youth services on the Gold Coast. By adding the website to our mobile phone home screen, we can easily seek help or help others in areas such as mental health, emergency services, safe spaces & hubs, safety, drugs and alcohol support and many more.
We, as QAHS Junior Council Representatives, would encourage all students to get access to these services through the QR code below. We look forward to our third Junior Council Meeting in Term 3 2023.
Yanyan Zhang
Year 10 Gold Coast Junior Council Representative