The Interact Club of Keira High School, supported by the Rotary Club of Wollongong, chose to recognise Diversity as their contribution to the school’s Celebration of Harmony week and invited Darren Koppell of the UOW Rotaract Club, and second in command of the SES in the Wollongong Local Government Area to share his story.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Darren is passionate about disaster risk management, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Darren recognises that the privilege of his supportive network has given him these opportunities. As a result, he is driven to ensure others less lucky in their circumstances know that they can belong.
In the short time he spoke at the school assembly, Darren captured the attention of every student by emphasising the theme of Harmony Day – Everyone Belongs, and explained diverse sexuality and gender (DSG). It comes with the challenges of firstly, accepting it within yourself and secondly, being accepted in the world.
He emphasised the importance of having a supportive network to keep one going through the hard times, and how his friends and family got him through the coming out process enabling him to follow his goals.
Darren provided an overview of Start Out – an online mentoring program for young people (high school to 25 years) that will give DSG people access to role models and mentors. The mentors are people who can help their mentees to navigate the process of coming out and dealing with the struggles and isolation of growing up DSG.
He emphasised that everyone needed someone to talk to and a lot of poor mental health was preventable. He said empowerment enabled potential and spoke of a Call to action - a world where DSG people were inspired, confident and resilient, a world where everyone belonged. The program will be launched in May this year.
On Thursday last, in just 45 minutes of their lunch break, students from years 7 to 11 and staff, wearing very brightly coloured socks, lined up and paid to have their nails painted in bright colours by the Interactors, to support and fund raise funds for Start Out. As a result, a cheque for over $800 was presented to Darren.
Students from years 9-11 meet each Thursday with the teacher/co-ordinator of their Interact Club, Ms Jessica Kirton, supported by Rotarians Deb Petreski and Dot Hennessy. Preparations are now underway for the Rotary District Interact Conference to be held in Sydney in May.
For more information about Rotary, contact Dot Hennessy on 0412 120 314.
