By Tate Papworth
Victoria University and Brimbank schools are joining forces to create future leaders.
The university has adopted the Brimbank area for Mix It Up, a leadership, civics and employability training program.
Professor Kathy Laster, director of VU’s Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, said the initiative’s early signs were positive.
“I’m not sure how many times a university has adopted a local government area and worked intensely with them,” she said.
“We’ve got eight of the 10 Brimbank schools involved and have been conducting leadership development, preparing them for careers, public speaking and civic education.”
Under the program, working lawyers are mentoring year 10 to 12 students interested in law-related careers.
Judges and other members of the legal system have also gone to the schools as facilitators.
“Part of the role modelling system is to build realistic ideas of different paths, to show them a life after school,” Professor Laster said.
“We want to show them that opportunities aren’t limited because they’re from the west or if they haven’t got the ATAR score they’d hoped for.”
VU students are also involved in the program, which caters for Brimbank’s multicultural make-up.
“We try to match the university mentors to students from a different background,” Professor Laster said.
“Some of these students are newly arrived in Australia, so having a mentor a few years ahead at university shows them it’s possible to get where they want.”
