A youth perspective on a youth- led symposium
By Jeremy Leveridge, Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD National Leader (2021 - 22).
Background:
The idea of a Wairarapa Youth Symposium came from Holly Hullena (Road Safety Coordinator, Wairarapa Road Safety Trust and it received an extra push when Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD decided to cancel the 2022 Conferences across the country (due to Covid).
Holly Hullena saw this as the perfect opportunity to unite Wairarapa’s SADD community, recreating the experience of the event from her perspective, including the knowledge and learning that comes with it. Initially, I was a little sceptical of the concept. This was because I couldn’t help but make a comparison between the Symposium's concept and my experience at the 2021 SADD Conference - I was sceptical about how the Symposium would size up to Conference, both content and enjoyment wise.
I was of course optimistic, and in no way, shape, or form, doubted Holly’s ideas. I was more intrigued, curious as to whether or not a one-off event could capture the fun, interactive, social, and informative aspects that an annual conference does so well. My fellow SADD peers at Mākoura College were absolutely heartbroken by the cancellation of conference. At the start of the year I tasked myself with recruiting a whole new lineup of SADD teammates, and the proposal of a trip to Hamilton for conference was a major selling point. Taking that away and attempting to replace it with something equally as fulfilling was going to be a hard task. Getting them on board certainly took some convincing.
The idea and how to get it off the ground:
A local Youth Symposium had been Holly’s burning idea for years. COVID-19’s disruption of the highly-anticipated SADD Conference was the catalyst to bring this idea into being. She assembled a team of Avengers (e.g. local SADD team members, students, and coordinators, including myself). We had the task of organising an informative and engaging session for roughly 30 students, having about a month to do it.
Nothing about us without us:
In order to bring a youth focused event to life, youth voice is a necessity. Without the input of young people in the preparation stages, the results will never be in alignment with the interests and needs of the rangatahi. Holly reached out to Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD leaders from each school and were asked to gather a small group of students who expressed an interest in the event. Holly also engaged with students from both SADD and the local Youth Council, to pinpoint what topics needed to be focused on during the Symposium.
Planning for the occasion:
The plan seemed to be slowly piecing itself together, and was setting out to be a promising replacement for a prestigious SADD conference. I communicated closely with Holly during the preparation phase, honing what I could offer as a SADD National Leader, as a local role model, and how the event could tie in with my National Leader project. We exchanged a substantial amount of emails, joined a Zoom call or two, and held a few in-person meetings.
An action-packed school calendar, accompanied by COVID-19 isolation, and a handful of other inconvenient circumstances managed to disrupt some of this preparation. All hope for my involvement was not lost, however. Holly had a vision in mind for me, a vision in which I was the face of SADD. She hoped that I could be a strong youth voice in the room, and would give me the opportunity to speak about SADD and the National Leadership Programme. I was also asked to be involved in the set up on the day, welcoming students as they arrived and encouraging participation throughout the event. Personally, I thought these areas were perfect for me. I’m not always the most confident and energetic presenter, but being able to work amongst the students while being a role model was an ideal approach.
The concept of being such a dominant figure of youth voice initially seemed slightly daunting, and a little bit overwhelming. But after letting the proposition set in and seeing the plan come together, it is something I found a sense of pride in. I felt valued, I felt an important piece of the puzzle.
Life gets in the way of plans - problem solving:
As can be expected when planning anything, it was not always smooth sailing during the planning stage. The main inconvenience was around the availability of people and venues. Originally, the Symposium was intended to take place on Wednesday 18th May. However, after discussing the availability for a full day event at REAP House (Masterton), Holly pushed the event back to the 1st June. Getting all of the intended partners available to present on the same day was also one of the struggles. For example, while the fire service were able to be present on the day, they were unable to give a full presentation. As a solution, the Wairarapa SADD group met at the Fire Station at a later stage in October, where the FENZ crew ran through the dangers of driving in what was a fun, informative, and interactive presentation.
As the Symposium plan was locked in place and ready to be launched, my excitement and trust for the event's success remained, as did my scepticism. I was curious to observe the enjoyment and engagement levels of the students on the day, and how they would size up to that of the SADD North Island conference I attended in 2021.
I believe that even if I wasn’t a Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD National Leader, I would have attended the Symposium as an energetic and enthusiastic participant. In reality, I did feel responsible to be present at the event as a National Leader and respected SADD student. I don’t see myself working as a SADD student because of the pressure to perform as a National Leader, but because I genuinely enjoy the work that comes with the commitment. I enjoy the feeling that I’m making a difference in a big issue like road safety, and that is a purpose carried by every single SADD student. I attended the event as both a National Leader and a proud member of the Wairarapa SADD group.
The day of the Symposium - pens, paper and vibe:
The Symposium kicked off early on the 1st of June. Fellow Mākoura College SADD group member Dominique Phillips and I arrived at REAP House an hour early at 8:00am, where we assisted Holly set up the meeting room in placing name tags, preparing paper, pens, and gift bags for each student. We welcomed students who walked through the doors from 8:30am, all were eager to learn and have fun (and get away from school for a day!).
The first aspect I noticed on the day was the vibe of the students who were present. The Symposium wasn’t compulsory for all SADD students in the Wairarapa, so only a select representation from each school were present which I think was perfect and worked in our favour to prioritise engaged students only. From the get go of the Symposium, I could tell that all the students wanted to be there, they had open minds, and were filled with energy and optimism.
Adopting both a facilitation and observation role:
Setting up and preparing the room was not all I was prepared to contribute on the day. I had the intention of guiding and assisting other students, fitting in with the group, and being someone they could look up to and come to for help. I wanted people to feel comfortable and confident at the Symposium in order to get the most out of the experience. Working with a vast range of students would allow me to listen and contribute to new road safety approaches and perspectives. I believe these intentions matched the vision that Holly and myself had come up with for my involvement during the event.
Students were quick and eager to get into the day. High levels of student involvement and engagement were apparent from the get go. The setup was perfect - tables were spread out across the room, accompanied by road safety gift bags. The environment wasn’t that of an intimidating, dull gathering, but that of a vibrant, positive one. Holly’s vision was to run an engaging workshop where students would come up with solid plans to roll out into the community, and it was nothing short of it.
Presentations get underway:
We eased into the workshop, being informed on the intended outcomes of the Symposium, and the goals for the day. One of the key topics of the morning was Waka Kotahi’s “Road to Zero” campaign. The group were informed of the plan to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads by 2050, and the combined efforts that it will take to reach this goal. Donna talked to the group about SADD, the name change to Kaitiaki o Ora, and the design process that was utilised. Part way through her segment, she called me up (on the spot) to discuss my role as a SADD National Leader. I described the fun and memorable experiences that I’ve been involved in during my tenure, and briefly touched on the application process for those who were interested. Overall, I felt my knowledge and experience as a National Leader allowed me to communicate effectively with the group as a whole.
Presentations were split by fun and engaging icebreakers, to ensure participants remained focused and involved. The first icebreaker was a small but effective SADD activity, “It’s SADD what you’ll miss”. Each student was given a collection of sticky notes, on which they jotted down people, items, activities, etc. which they would miss if they were involved in a fatal car crash. The second icebreaker involved drunk goggles. Personally, this is my favourite SADD activity, one that my group ran late in 2022. Participants use drunk goggles and try to navigate an area safely (usually unsuccessfully). Not only is this activity a lot of fun and super engaging, but extremely effective in showcasing the dangers of drunk driving.
A range of guests from SADD, FENZ, Waka Kotahi and other organisations made up the panel of guests. Students of the Symposium heard from each member of the panel, who discussed the importance of keeping kiwis safe on our roads, and what road safety looks like from the perspectives of their given fields. Holly then further emphasised this information with her presentations, by explaining the importance of getting these key road safety messages into the minds of our rangatahi.
Attendees put new knowledge to work:
After a morning full of knowledge consumption, it was time to get to work. Each table of students picked one road safety issue which they believed to be prominent in the community. Groups came up with plans to address these issues, before presenting their ideas to the cluster of students, who were eager to listen and enthusiastically returned feedback. Some students got creative and acted out skits. Others (like my own) stuck to the basic slideshow format. Either way, the ideas that were presented were well thought through. The Mākoura College crew and I followed through with our drunk driving awareness activity, rolling it out to students and teachers later in the year.
Thank-yous and a bit of coverage:
I must also thank David Chapman from Rathkeale College. He gave an excellent presentation in relation to his work with the Carterton Youth Council, and how it all tied in with content being discussed during the Youth Symposium.
As the day drew to a close, a few members of the group were given the opportunity to speak to George Shiers about their day. The Wairarapa Times-Age journalist published the article in an issue of the Wairarapa Midweek.
“Prevention” (in this case, from dangerous driving) can be a hard problem to discuss especially in the press, as nothing really happens in a sense. However, events that encourage prevention (such as the Wairarapa Youth Symposium) do happen, so it is important that it is covered and reported to the wider community.
Overall, I think the day ran together smoothly. I would personally like to thank Holly for including me in the lead up to the Symposium. It was an amazing opportunity to be able to witness and have a say in during the preparation phase of an event such as this. I would also like to once again thank Holly on behalf of the group. Without her hard work, we wouldn’t have experienced the enjoyable and educational day that we did. Holly’s energy, enthusiasm, and passion for work makes tackling road safety a much less daunting experience.
Key points and confidence building:
There was certainly a vast array of key points that I have taken away from Wairarapa’s first ever Youth Symposium. What I found to be the most useful concept was learning how to run a successful and effective Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD activity. Without the Symposium, I doubt Mākoura College would have enjoyed the drunk goggle obstacle course as much as we all did. We knew what kind of activity we needed to run, how we wanted to frame it, who we wanted to involve, and the intended outcome the activity would have on participants and spectators alike. The preparation behind the scenes leading up to the activity meant that those involved in running it could sit back on the day while enjoying and learning from the experience as a whole.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Symposium enlightened us on the importance of thorough planning and preparation, no matter the circumstance.
In closing:
The Symposium doubled as an opportunity to make new connections. To build new friendships, reconnect old ones, and strengthen current ones. It united the community with one shared goal in mind. As a collective we are stronger, and can spread the word of road safety even further.
While the symposium was mostly constructed and led by adults, its purpose was to promote, encourage and nurture the success of student-led projects and activities. Holly says the Symposium has received great feedback, and even sparked the interest of other regions who may well attempt to create something similar. She believes this Symposium will continue in the years to come due to the high demand from students. Tentative dates are in the works for 2023. While I have moved on from College and am off to University in 2023, I will keep my eyes peeled for Symposium updates, and would love to see this become a yearly event.
The 2022 Wairarapa Youth Symposium didn’t exactly replicate a SADD regional conference, but created something different entirely, something unique, and something that can (and will likely) work alongside the Wellington Conference in 2023.
To conclude this case-study, Jeremy was asked to reflect on his personal experience:
Did you find the initial task daunting? If so, why? What did you do to make the challenge achievable?
Although the initial proposal may have seemed daunting, the preparation and execution of the first Wairarapa Youth Symposium was a great success. Everyone involved in every stage of the process pushed through with a shared vision and a shared trust in the ideas of Holly.
What did you learn about taking a leap of faith? Did something or someone help?
I learned what it takes to come up with a successful and original idea and that simply starting is the most simple yet most important part of the whole process. Making a start to anything is the most crucial element to bringing an idea into reality. For the Symposium, this step was Holly laying the plans out on the table, and getting people on board. From my perspective, the first step was to accept my role of involvement in the process. Once the ball is rolling and momentum is gained, everything begins to fall into place.
Was this a surprise? What surprised you about yourself?
I was both surprised and inspired by the energy, focus, and enthusiasm of the students at the Symposium. The group was simply amazing, which made the mahi on the day so much easier and more enjoyable. I surprised myself with my efforts to step and take the lead within the group I was working with. Although I am involved in leadership roles often, I am by no means an expert, and every new opportunity is a new challenge, not a familiar route. I encourage all SADD students to step up, and never be afraid of a failure or judgement. Always push yourself that little bit further than you think you are capable of.
What skills or lessons did you learn that you have been able to apply to life after school?
These are transitional skills. For example - talking to older people/figures of authority. Having convincing conversations, researching, making small talk (it is a skill!)
I believe that, both through the Youth Symposium and similar SADD events, I’ve picked up a vast range of communication and event planning skills. When speaking with SADD partners such as FENZ or the Police, it almost seems as if there is no power imbalance present in conversation. These SADD partners are always just as interested to hear about the experiences and thoughts of young people as we are to hear from them. In addition to this, the symposium gave me the opportunity to connect with young people my age in both serious and informal situations.
Were there any examples at the symposium itself that you have reflected on?
Following up on the Symposium, more specifically during the planning process of writing this case study, has been the perfect time to reflect on myself as a leader, a SADD student, and a young person in general. The Symposium made me look inward towards the tools I have been provided with thanks to Kaitiaki o Ara, and what I have been able to give SADD in return.
Looking back - was it easier than you thought? What was the commitment level like from your perspective?
My commitment level was very self-driven. At the time of the Symposium planning I was an extremely busy student. This was easily worked around and catered to. It was the kind of scenario where “I got out of it what I put into it”. Whatever I had to offer felt valued and appreciated.
If a similar event was going to be run elsewhere - from the perspective of being an organiser - what would your advice be? What advice would you give yourself?
Going back to what I said earlier - getting started was the “most simple yet most important part of the whole process”. It may be daunting but until you jump in, it will remain so. Take that initial step and then take another - before you know it, you can see the path you are on and you build your momentum as you go.
I support the idea of Youth Symposium’s becoming frequent SADD events around all of Aotearoa 110%. The knowledge and experience that can be gained is beneficial for the regional SADD group, and for all individuals involved. All it takes is the first step - get the idea out there, get the ball rolling, talk to the right people, and make it happen.