Motivated students sign up as Ambassadors

“All Australian children should have the opportunity to imagine, understand and enjoy stories and ideas through reading.” – Lachlan Coman, inaugural Student Ambassador

We're excited to launch the Student Ambassador program, inviting schools to nominate students who would help represent and promote the ILF this year. Schools have nominated students who share a strong sense of social justice, a passion for literacy and all have great leadership skills. 

These new Student Ambassadors are inspired by Lachlan Coman, our first Student Ambassador. Lachlan has been a great supporter of our Foundation since he first approached us in 2011, asking for books to take out to Tjunjtuntjara. He travelled out and forged a relationship with the community, writing stories with the school children there that were published in How Does Your Garden Grow? Lachlan now attends Haileybury College. In his new role as our Foundation’s first official Student Ambassador, Lachlan is approaching his local community and has spoken at local schools including Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) and St Leonard's College and with the support of Scott Doran is organising a Great Book Swap at Haileybury.  

The 17 nominees are an outstanding group of students. Bradley Psaroudis from Elizabeth Macarthur High School in Narellan is a leader among the whole school – in particular with the school’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. He was an enthusiastic volunteer at the school's Great Book Swap last year. Taj Longman from St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School in Wyong is another veteran book swap coordinator, working on the event with the indigenous students last year. Lilymay Spicer from Holy Cross Catholic School in Kincumber is passionate about literacy and wrote a wonderful personal description as a fourth- generation child from the Stolen Generation. Eden Rout, Vice Captain at Wanniora Public School in the Illawarra is proud of her aboriginality and speaks publicly on a range of Indigenous issues.

• Posted 17 June, 2014