At school, intelligence is usually measured academically.
However, one group has been working with high schoolers in Shepparton to develop something just as important: emotional intelligence.
A youth-led initiative, Reach tackles hard conversations like mental health and works with young people to equip them with the right tools to prepare them for life’s challenges.
Over the past couple of months, they’ve been working with students from Greater Shepparton Secondary College in a series of workshops to establish this.
Reach senior facilitator and flagship programs manager Jana Christodoulou recently completed a workshop at the school with her team.
Reach was able to visit GSSC thanks to some funding from the Lighthouse Project.
In these workshops, the job of the Reach facilitators is to prompt and facilitate conversations. But ultimately, it’s directed by the students, Ms Christodoulou said.
“We created an environment to explore who they are and learn more about their peers,” she said.
“The workshop was pretty incredible, especially this time round, as we had smaller groups, and they felt a lot more comfortable and safe, and the environment allowed them to become open and vulnerable.
“We had a lot of really hard-hitting stories that were shared by young people and some that their peers did not know about, and having that helps create an understanding of one another.
“What we’re doing is giving people the tools to speak truthfully and seek help when they need or feel confident learning how to step into the version of the person they want to be.”
Following these workshops, Ms Christodoulou said they encourage students to build on their developments by attending regularly-run camps and workshops outside of school.
Ms Christodoulou said they hoped to visit more schools in the Goulburn Valley and encouraged schools to reach out and get involved.
She also said the program is not just for schools either; workplaces can get involved in their programs Wake By Reach.
“There’s also another kind of opportunity we want to explore, and that’s to provide these tools to teachers so they can grow in the community,” she said.
Wake By Reach runs a variety of workshops ranging from resilience work and leadership workshops to bridging gaps between generations in the workplace.
To get Reach to visit your school or workplace, reach out to them via their website, www.reach.org.au