The young people of Kingston are set to take centre stage this month, with Youth Fest.
Our celebration of the contributions, achievements and interests of all things young people will be headlined by the announcement of the Young Citizen of the Year on Tuesday 13 September, the Friday Feels Jam Session on Friday 16 September, and the Glitter and Glow dance party on Thursday 29 September.
There are five nominees for the 2022 Young Citizen of the Year Award:
Amberley Powell
Amberley has a long-established commitment to leadership at Mentone Girls Secondary College. An active College Council member, she has also been College Sports Captain, House Captain and a Student Representative Committee member. Amberley is a strong advocate for her peers and an excellent model of leadership to younger students through the roles and opportunities she seizes and in how she applies herself to her studies.
Alice Ho
Alice is a passionate advocate for youth mental health within the community, participating in numerous groups and initiatives. Having dedicated herself to developing her leadership skills within youth leadership groups and youth committees, Alice uses these skills and networks to grow awareness and action for improved youth mental health on behalf of marginalised young people.
Sam Hubeek
Sam's goal is to create a safe and inclusive school environment for LGBTIQA+ and gender diverse students. He has been advocating for the use of preferred names and pronouns within the school community, even making pronoun badges for his peers to use on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia. A member of Kingston Youth Services' Queer in Kingston group, Sam also creates lunch time activities to help support awareness days at school.
Ronan Askew
Ronan is an eager and energetic part of his school's Student Representative Committee, volunteering to make sets and props for the school play and displaying teamworkand great communication skills while encouraging others to get involved. He also dedicates a lot of his time to helping improve the school experience for other students. As a patrolling lifesaver at the Chelsea Longbeach Surf Lifesaving Club, Ronan has put in more than 100 hours of volunteer patrolling in the past year and his passion and dedication to leadership has made him a trusted mentor to younger volunteers.
Isabelle Lette
Isabelle has played a significant role in enhancing a positive school culture by helping breakfast clubs, being a part of the Student Representative Committee and participating in the planning and running of activities and events. She is also a Peer Support Member, supporting year seven students, and often encouraging the creation of healthy habits and has also been instrumental in helping lead the Rainbow Room at school - a support space for LGBTIQA+ students and their allies and accessible to all. Isabelle is passionate about creating safe environments and advocates for the more inclusive use of bathrooms to address bullying. A member of the Westall Environment Group, Isabelle campaigns for more composting bins and raises awareness about the value of composting.
The Friday Feels Jam Session is a special, one-off acoustic music night set to celebrate and showcase young, up-and-coming talent in the music industry.
Featuring an incredible line-up of local artists including Reachell Hernandez, Monica Casaceli, Seb Ashton, Olivia Giannikopoulos, and Sarah Carino it will be a night filled with great tunes, chill vibes, beanbags, fairy lights, snacks, chats, fun and all the feels.
Glitter and Glow is an event to celebrate all our LGBTIQA+ youth in the City of Kingston.
It promises to be a fluorescent, shimmery and fabulous social dance event filled with your favourite hits, games and laughter and we are calling on all young people to come and celebrate in an explosion of colour, glitter and glow!
Expect prizes for best dressed, a photobooth, the best beats from our live DJ, drag queen performances and so much more.
