In August and September, I visited six high schools in regional NSW to guide a total of 110+ Year 7-12 students through a two-day workshop learning and practicing design thinking, social entrepreneurship, innovation, and problem-solving on a real challenge provided by a local community partner.
As a teaching team we worked with over 300 students at 20 schools.
The Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Activation Program (RYEAP) was funded by Investment NSW. I was lucky to be invited by Stephen Rutter to be part of The Scale Institute teaching team for this program – along with Elvis Gleeson, Erica Tan, Nicholas Stevens, Mariam Mohammed, Carli Leimbach, Nicola Panopoulos, and Suzie Winkelman.
RYEAP was about nurturing the potential of our young leaders and helping build the capabilities and knowledge to prepare them to be work-ready, adaptable, and resilient people. It’s also about cultivating the next generation of entrepreneurs who’ll drive positive change, create jobs, and help build stronger and more resilient communities.
I shared a bit more about the program in this interview with Sally Bryant on ABC Riverina breakfast radio.
I’m now looking forward to a break from travelling for a few weeks to hang out with my own awesome kids during school holidays. This blog post is a reflection on the experience of the past few weeks and consolidates what I’ve been posting. I also share some of the things I learnt.
21 September 2023
19 & 20 September. Canobolas Rural Technology High School
Orange. Wiradjuri Country
This week I was lucky to spend a couple of days with some students and one of the teachers (Jess Penberthy) at Canobolas Rural Technology High School with Nicholas Stevens as my partner.
Pairtree Intelligence was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on agtech and climate impacts. A huge thanks to Hamish Munro for sharing a bit about his story, the story of Pairtree, and being interviewed by the students to understand more and build empathy.
It was also awesome to catch up with my mate Craig Murphy who now hangs out at Charles Sturt University and catch up on the past few years and chat all things innovation in regional NSW.
This was the last of 20 schools as part of RYEAP.
14 September 2023
11 & 12 September. Morisset High School
Morisset. Awabakal Country
I was lucky to spend a couple of days with some students at Morisset High School on the shores of beautiful Lake Macquarie with Elvis Gleeson as my partner.
Bara Barang was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on how Bara Barang could attract more volunteer driver mentors for their driving programs helping people gain (or regain) their drivers licence – which is part of their specialised services that help empower Aboriginal young people with cultural affirmation and connection to cultural education, employment, and training.
Thanks to Andrew Malloch for sharing a bit about his story, the story of Bara Barang, and the challenge, and being interviewed by the students to understand the context, build empathy, and understand the challenge.
7 September 2023
4 & 5 September. Karabar High School
Queanbeyan. Ngunnawal Country
This week I was lucky to spend a couple of days with 37 students and one of the teachers (Leah Zimmerman) at Karabar High School with Matt Panopoulos as my partner.
I learnt so much and really enjoyed working with Matt who’s a very experienced schoolteacher and also a startup founder.
Training Services NSW was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on how Training Services NSW might attract more young people to take up the many apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities available.
Thanks to Sharon Locker-Lloyd from Training Services NSW for being interviewed by the students to really understand the system and context, build empathy, and understand the challenge. This group of students asked so many really insightful questions and had the confidence and clarity to ask follow-up questions to get below the surface.
It was also awesome to catch up with Craig Fairweather from The Mill House Ventures and enjoy some fellow B Corp product at Capital Brewing Co 😃
30 August 2023
28 & 29 August. Murrumbidgee Regional High School
Griffith. Wiradjuri Country
Over the past couple of days I was lucky to spend time with some students and one of the teachers (Taylah Reynolds) at Murrumbidgee Regional High School in Griffith with Elvis Gleeson as my partner.
I also had a brief chat with Sally Bryant on ABC Riverina breakfast radio about the program yesterday morning.
I2R Group was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on how I2R Group might increase the representation and employment of women in STEM roles that they have in their business… by encouraging more young women to get involved with their work experience, cadetships, and other employment pathway programs.
A huge thanks to Matt, Michael, and Jack from I2R Group for sharing the challenge and being open and honest when they were interviewed by the students to understand the context, build empathy, and understand what they’re already trying.
From age 10 to 16 I went to school in Wellington, NZ. I spent my high school years at Wainuiomata College in a semi-rural valley. The cultural mix at Murrumbidgee Regional High made me nostalgic for my days hanging with all my old school mates who were Māori and Islanders, with a few Asians and Pakeha. There’s a specific playfulness and humour that #IfYouKnowYouKnow. I’m stoked to still be connected with so many of my old Kiwi whanau.
21 August 2023
16 & 17 August. Toronto High School
Toronto. Awabakal Country
I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with the students and a couple of the teachers (Peter Banks and Dan Wood) at Toronto High School on the shores of the beautiful Lake Macquarie with Erica Tan as my partner.
Tender Funerals Australia was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on how young people might become youth ambassadors for Tender with interactive fundraising campaigns that foster community connections within their schools and local area.
A huge thanks to Dan Wood and Jennifer Briscoe-Hough from Tender for sharing the challenge and being interviewed by the students to understand the context and build empathy. Dan works at the school and having him actively engaged over the two days was amazing.
9 August 2023
3 & 4 August. Alesco Senior College
Tuncurry. Worimi Country
Last week I was lucky to spend a couple of days with the students and teachers at Alesco Senior College in Tuncurry with Elvis Gleeson as my partner. Forster-Tuncurry is a beautiful part of the world.
Alesco Senior College is a unique school who position themselves as “a secondary school, where wellbeing and learning is in balance” – and I loved seeing that in action with very empathic teachers.
MidCoast Council was the community partner for this one and the challenge focused on how the council might use tech to share relevant info and engage young people to have their voice heard.
A big thanks to Juana Maddalena from MidCoast Council for sharing the challenge and a bunch of interesting info about the council with the students.
What I Learnt
It’s been great to get out of my city bubble and visit a few places in regional NSW. Every school, the students, and community partners I’ve had the privilege of working with have been so different and they’ve taught me a lot.
It was a very full and intense few weeks.
Influence Without Authority
From a personal perspective, I was curious and wanted to learn more about interacting with people this age and in a school environment. This was an opportunity to get more insight into what my daughters – Jaz & Za – experience (or might)… and see what I’m like negotiating with teens without using authority.
I’ve tested my ability to work with high school students and learnt I can communicate the design thinking and entrepreneurship concepts (that I’ve been doing for years in an adult learning context) in practical and simple ways with this age group… again based on learning through doing.
I’ve learnt that by being myself, treating the students with dignity and as equals, they like and respect me and “my vibe”.
I’ve learnt I’m comfortable providing the opportunity to learn without forcing participation and I don’t see the value in pushing people to do things they don’t want. I encourage without forcing or attempting to use authority.
Maybe this is because I want to be liked and know I don’t really have any authority over anyone anyway – they need to buy into that for it to be real – so positive reinforcement, encouragement, and opening up the opportunity are the paths to influence.
Open, Curious & Playful
I’ve learnt being open, curious, and playful is good for relationships and trust.
These things are my personal style and how I prefer to behave and interact with others. Not everyone shares this. For this program, I also don’t need to directly manage classroom behaviour and I’m only doing it for a couple of days at a time.
I also don’t want the confrontation which seems necessary in some situations. I invest in trying to make that an unlikely scenario. That won’t always be possible though. Dealing with that in a healthy way and without avoiding the conflict is something I still need to learn, at least in this context. The context being where I could assert theoretical authority as a “teacher” or parent.
I was lucky to go to some Big Picture schools and that approach to learning has given the students lucky enough to experience it a massive head start on problem solving, collaboration, and work life.
It also made a big difference being able to use different spaces and run some of the sessions outdoors.
All of the students are going through their own thing, but in general they were engaged and curious. Working with them makes me feel optimistic.
