What about those workshops?!
You may or may not have known that our Delivery Team was on the road doing workshops a few weeks ago, however due to COVID-19 some of our workshops and school visits sadly had to be cancelled. We still managed to visit a whole bunch of students earlier on in the term, so read on to hear from our Delivery Team about some of their highlights, and see some photos from their trips.
Lydia
Hitting the road and visiting schools and regions is one of my absolute favourite parts of my jobs. It’s hectic, tiring and filled with strange food choices in small towns, but I love it!
My job is to oversee the programme in the South Island so you can imagine that I don’t always get as much face time with you all as I would like. One of the first things I loved about workshops this term was hearing all about your schools and towns, hearing your stories and just listening is such a privilege, there are some cool students out there I can tell you that! The second thing I loved was hearing your passion, one of the best things about young people is your passion for things and willingness to actually do something about the things you are passionate about. Adults often talk big talk and have lots of opinions, but sometimes lack on the ‘actually doing something about it part’. I love that you are willing to be part of a solution to problems you see, not just complain. I know this year is looking a bit different than a lot of us thought, but I trust that lots of those great ideas and plans I heard from students at workshops will come to fruition. The road to getting there might just look a bit different.
Jay
This has been my first year working for SADD as the Lower North Island Programme Delivery Lead and wow, has it been a crazy start to the year! I was lucky enough to attend most of my workshops before the lockdown kicked in but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to meet the awesome SADD students in the Bay of Plenty Region (next time 😊). A few highlights for me from my time traveling across the country were:
Meeting a lot of amazing new and old students that are involved with SADD this year, as well as hearing what activities they came up with last year in their schools and their fun stories that they shared
Driving to parts of the country that I haven’t been to before and increasing my driving experience. It was challenging but also exciting visiting the different regions and seeing the amazing countryside Aotearoa has to offer us.
Lastly it was awesome seeing new schools in my hometown region getting involved with the SADD programme this year. You guys do amazing work in our country and are making a big difference Kia Kaha SADD students
Mia
Wow, what a journey it has been so far for me. It has only been a couple of months since I started with SADD but the amount of stuff I have learned is massive. I see the current situation as if I had to stop in front of a train barrier, waiting for the train to pass so I can get going and visit all the schools that I didn't get to see yet. At the same time, it gives me time to reflect on how much I have learned so far and I can appreciate the incredible work our students do. I am excited about this, because every workshop I have done has been inspiring and filled with vibrant energy. The best part of my job is to empower you guys to become confident leaders and to not be afraid to have a voice. I cannot even begin to tell how important the work is that you do. Most of all I was thrilled by the enthusiasm from our students and the willingness to create, to make a change and to learn. No day is the same, no road trip is the same and no SADD group is the same. I love the diversity of people and ideas. The diversity brings so many possibilities and I cannot wait to see it all. For now let’s focus on all the new doors that open for us, instead of the ones that are closing. Inspire and be inspired! I will see you soon :)
If you did miss out on a visit because of cancellations don’t worry we will be making plans for more workshops and visits as soon as we can! Meanwhile, we will have some online workshop content available also, so stay tuned for that! If you are wanting to get a bit more involved and stuck into contributing, get in touch with the SADD team to find out more about our SADD Digital Crew :)