What would you say in your first speech if you were the Australian Prime Minister?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question that AIME mentor Marlee Hutton put to her group of high school student mentees recently.<\/p>\n
She then told them that they would write speeches, film them and put them online to be voted on and that the best ones would get their speeches presented during the lead up to the 2013 Federal Election in Canberra.<\/p>\n
Over 600 Indigenous high school kids from across Australia have written speeches all of which become available online today on AIME\u2019s National Hoodie Day for people to vote on.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of The Other Election campaign run by AIME, an organisation that pairs up mentors with Indigenous high school students to help them develop a wide variety of skills, get them to finish high school and chase their dreams.<\/p>\n
Ian Thorpe, AIME\u2019s ambassador, is keen to get a million people to vote on the videos online.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy voting in The Other Election we stand together with these inspirational Indigenous kids who have raised the bar to offer a vision for the future filled with hope, positivity and greatness,\u201d said Mr Thorpe.<\/p>\n
Ms Hutton agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s taken a lot of guts for these kids to get up in front of the camera and record these speeches that they have written in under an hour,\u201d Ms Hutton said. \u201cThey have put a lot of effort into this and a lot of them have stepped out of their comfort zone to do it and it\u2019s so inspiring and it builds their confidence when they see people voting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The national charity has connected 2000 students nationwide with 1000 university student mentors. 74 Curtin University students have stepped forward to mentor 166 high schools students since Curtin University\u2019s AIME program began at the start of 2013. Hundreds more have applied to become mentors.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as it benefits the students, you find that it benefits the mentors as well and that the mentors go along on this journey,\u201d Ms Hutton said.<\/p>\n
Lauren Cramb, Curtin\u2019s Program Co-ordinator for AIME, expects even more interest from the Curtin community in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be expanding next year,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are going to be doubling the program at Curtin University which means that we will need more mentors to support our mentees.\u201d<\/p>\n
The top ten high school students will then be flown to Sydney to work with industry partners to take part in workshops. The top three will then fly to Canberra to deliver their speeches as part of the lead up to the election in September.<\/p>\n