Student leaders from across the Cootamundra electorate including Boorowa Central’s Belle Riles and Mylee Taylor travelled to NSW Parliament in Sydney last week as part of the annual Secondary Schools Student Leadership Program, to learn about constitutional and parliamentary processes

The program, delivered by the NSW Parliament’s Education and Engagement team and Government House, gives student leaders the opportunity to meet and agage with elected representatives.

Mylee and Belle described the opportunity as an amazing and enlightening experience.

“Learning directly from current Members of Parliament gave me a genuine insight into how leadership operates at a state and federal level,” Mylee said.

“Hearing their personal stories, the challenges they’ve faced, as well as the passion and inspiration that drives their work motivated me to incorporate such inspiration into my own leadership style”

“Being at Parliament and meeting other student leaders from all over NSW made it feel really special. It opened my eyes to how much responsibility leaders have, but also how much impact young people can make when we speak up,” Belle said.

Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, welcomed the students and heard about the issues they believe are important to young people in regional NSW.

“These students are already demonstrating the qualities of leadership through their service to their schools and communities, and they should be incredibly proud of representing their regions at NSW Parliament,” Ms Cooke said.

“One of the best parts of this program is giving young people the opportunity to see democracy and leadership in action, while also encouraging them to have confidence in their own voices and ideas.”

Both Mylee and Belle shared how the experience has helped their leadership skills grow.

“The program definitely boosted my confidence, especially in speaking up and sharing ideas” Belle said.

“Hearing directly from MPs about their pathways into leadership encouraged me to recognise the importance of communication and staying connected to the community,” Mylee said.

Moving forward, they plan to bring back some of the communication strategies they learned and incorporate what they have learned into the SRC.

Ms Cooke said this year’s cohort demonstrated an outstanding level of enthusiasm and maturity.

“Our regional communities should feel incredibly optimistic about the future because we have such capable and community-minded young people stepping forward as leaders,” she said.

“I hope every student who attended feels empowered and proud of the important role they play in their school and local community.”