1. Rotary Junior Community Award
A program to develop citizenship and community values in Grade 6 students
This presentation was made to the International Rotary Convention in Sydney 2014

2. History of the Rotary Junior Community Award
Initiative of Past Rotarian David Hawkey, Chairman of the Community Relations Education Project, in 1997
Part of a pilot program to address racism and violence in the Bairnsdale community.
Began as the Bairnsdale Junior Community Award
This program has a long history and although it has been reviewed several times not thing has been changed except for a new facelift for the covers a few years ago.

3. History of the Rotary Junior Community Award
Developed and trialed by Bairnsdale teachers for four years.
In 1998 the Rotary Club of Mitchell sponsored the program and promoted it as Rotary Junior Community Award to schools in Rotary District and further afield.

4. Aims of the Award
To raise the level of knowledge in children of the range of values in their community.
2. To give a greater understanding of what makes our community work.
The program is aimed at boys and girls in Year 6 in Primary Schools. (Last Year of Primary school where schools finish at Year.

5. Aims of the Award
3. To provide an opportunity for children to experience the satisfaction of community service
4. To give children an opportunity to see and understand their own potential value to the community regardless of academic, physical or other abilities

6. The Award Promotes Leadership Confidence Self worth Knowledge
Skills for life
Positive values
Social values

7. The Junior Community Award has four areas
Community service
Social Experience
Physical experience
Skills

8. Community Service Regular assistance to a person or community group
Ten weeks of service of one hour per week
This could include activities such as caring for an elderly person, working in a youth group or a voluntary service organisation.
Anecdote of old man who died, Nursing and Retirement Homes,- induction in some homes.
During this activity we aim to give children experience in volunteerism, including both the joys and challenges.
Many delightful relationships have been formed especially between the young and the old and with children with disability. Th
Last week – story about Riding for the Disabled.

9. Social Experience Take part in a community commemoration
Attend a community meeting
Find out about someone else’s religious beliefs
Attend an arts performance
Experience another culture
Identify local environmental issue
In Social Experience part of the program children take part in a wide range of community activities.
Community meetings can include school council, pony, club, Shire Council, Angling and Rotary meetings the list is endless.

10. Example of Diary Entry
Content not writing and spelling or neatness.

11. Community Commemoration
Our local RSL reported a dramatic rise in attendance of children at all services including the Dawn Service.

12. ANZAC Day 2014

13. Community Meeting
The young man who wrote this report became greatly involved in the Fly Fishing Club, attending meetings and learnt to tie flies and fish.

14. Rotary Meeting
Children an attend a Rotary meeting or School Couincil meeting if they don’t have access to other meetings.

15. Religious Experience
They organise a religious experience which could be a church service or an interview.
For this the children are asked to leave their comfort zone and we insist they look at someone else’s spiritual beliefs.
Our local Catholic church has wonderful paintings, much like the Sistine Chapel paintings, one young wrote ‘ The priest was pretty boring but the pictures were great.” We suggested to the teacher he tell the priest to “up his game” Another .boy who usually raced motor bikes on a Sunday went to church for the first and said ‘ it was quite good and he might like to go again.’
These are examples of the reports children have made about their visits to other religious settings – typing up or handwritten are OK.
This is the part of the program we expected some difficulties and in 17 years there have been none.