Issue 2 2024 - Student Services
Student Services
Brad Woodruff
Real Men at Denmark Ag
School Chaplain Chris Urschitz and the College’s Residential Manager, John Overton, recently presented the first session of the Real Men program to our Year 12 boys. Chris describes the program as “getting together around food and drinks and in a lead circle conversation, sometimes with short inspirational clips, talks, stories and special guests. This is then followed by questions, answers, and time for reflection. The program builds young men up to understand the importance of respect, empathy, authenticity, and leadership”.
The boys participated in three activities, each designed with specific outcomes in mind.
The first activity involved the group analysing well-known men, including Luke Longley, Martin Luther King, Andrew Tate, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Elon Musk, to understand why they would be perceived as “real men.” The Question was posed: Why would you aspire to be like this man? Responses included rich, good-looking, strong, and philanthropic.
The next activity focused on how young men deal with the challenges adolescent boys face in being the man people expect them to be. They participated in an interactive, hands-on challenge, which required them to contribute their thoughts on the expectations of males. This included; showing emotion, being responsible, being a provider, being strong, muscular and many more. A round board with figurines placed on it was balanced on a pedestal and used as a metaphor to explore the conflict and struggle some young men feel around masculinity and changing stereotypes of how men should behave.
The last activity involved John Overton reflecting on his journey to manhood, specifically the changes and challenges he experienced during significant periods of his life.
Three more sessions are planned with our boys.
Do It For Dolly Day
The Hive have been promoting how to "Be Kind' for quite some time. Discussions with our young people around speaking nicely to others and thinking nicely about ourselves is something we will continue to do. In week 4, we recognised Do It For Dolly Day and encouraged students to wear blue. DIFDD reminds people of the power behind their words and what simple acts of kindness can do for ourselves and others. Our words and what we speak has the power to affect us positively or negatively and being consciously aware of this is something we encourage at WACOA Denmark.
The Hive continues to support young people to have positive experiences with services to discuss mental health, wellbeing and relationships. Young people are encouraged to drop in regularly to The Hive to see what activities are running and meet our Student Services team.
Our team support young people to develop a 'Growth Mindset' to recognise their own strengths and abilities. Our goal is to help young people to 'Be Kind' every day and build positive connections with their peers and adults in their life.
Resilience
The College is fortunate to have Bronwyn Waddington from Youth Focus (Headspace) working with our young people. Bronwyn provides one-on-one counselling services and has recently presented to our Year 10 students. The focus of her presentation was:
· Building positive relationships
· Conflict resolution
· Resilience
A key focus was imparting skills that students could use when interacting with their peers. Assertive communication was one such skill, where students learned to communicate in an open and honest way, whilst also being aware and respectful of other people’s feelings and positions.
Brad Woodruff
Program Coordinator - Student Services
WACOA – Denmark