Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs It’s lights, camera, action for Yashoda!
17 March 2023
For 16-year-old Yashoda, the creative arts are her passion.
“I love exploring new things. Poetry and singing and everything related to music and creative arts is really what I like!”
In Year 9, pursuing her passion became a little harder for Yashoda. Unfortunately, her school has no longer been able to offer creative arts as a subject. Paying for out-of-school creative arts workshops has not been possible for Yashoda’s father, who is the sole carer for Yashoda and her two siblings.
This is where a supporter like you can play a critical role for students living in disadvantage. With your generosity, Yashoda has been able to explore her creative abilities by participating in our out-of-school SmArts program.
SmArts is designed to provide students in Years 8 to 12 who are interested in creative arts with links to art organisations and relevant career information. In the past two years, Yashoda’s enjoyed participating in SmArts poetry, vocal and music classes and has really seen her creativity flourish.
Yashoda had an opportunity to be part of a four-day production workshop recently. She took part in acting, set design, costume design, lighting and stage management workshops with other teens participating in SmArts. At the end of the course, they presented a live theatre production for friends and family.
Participating in the SmArts workshops has had a positive impact on Yashoda. “I did a theatre workshop during the last school holidays. It was all about behind-the-scenes work: How to choose a play and how everything comes together. It was really cool.
SmArts teaches me about the different career options.”
This is something supporters like you help create for students like Yashoda. Through
our out-of-school learning and mentoring programs, students get to see what is possible. And what they are truly capable of achieving.
SmArts teaches me about different types of creative arts. When I did a theatre workshop, I learnt how everything comes together behind the scenes for a theatre production. It was so cool.
Thanks to you, Yashoda has been able to explore so much more than her creative side. Yashoda is also taking part in The Smith Family iTrack program. iTrack links students with a trained volunteer mentor, who can give them advice and encourage them with their post-school plans. This gives students a space to ask questions they may not feel comfortable asking their family, teachers or friends about their career options.
Yashoda is grateful to have the help of volunteer mentor Natalie to plan her time better and do the best she can in school. Natalie is there to provide guidance to Yashoda on how she can turn her creative passions into a career in the future.
“iTrack is helping me learn how to balance school life, home life and think about what I’m actually going to do in the future. I want to know how to take my passions and turn it into a career.”
Thank you to our supporters for helping give Yashoda the opportunity to explore her career options. We can’t wait to see her name up in lights!
Read more student and family stories in our Autumn 2023 edition of Real People, Real Stories
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