SIDE Student from Shark Bay – Mulgana and Nhanda Country - Selected as 2022 ABC Heywire Winner
VeeJay, a SIDE graduate from Shark Bay School, has been chosen as one of the ABC’s Heywire’s 38 nationwide winners for 2022. Heywire winners are flown to Canberra in April for a week long Heywire Youth Summit to meet other rural, regional and remote young leaders in their community.
VeeJay is the fifth Heywire winner from SIDE. He was a valued SIDE student for six years and forged strong connections with the SIDE community. In his Heywire entry, VeeJay highlights his love for the World Heritage Area of Shark Bay and Useless Loop where he has grown up, and chosen to stay and work since graduating, instead of moving to the city like most of his peers.
Listen to VeeJay’s story here:
https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/veejay_shark-bay_wa/13650448
Listen to the stories of previous SIDE winners here.
Regan Austin (Manjimup 2017)
Raymond Binsiar (Buttah Windee near Meekatharra 2019)
Brielle Hunt (Dunsborough 2020)
Rania Adim-Habena (Cocos Island 2021)
SIDE English teachers, Donella Grieco and Jenny Crowe, promote Heywire every year through a storytelling workshop in Webex with ABC presenter Katie McAllister.
Heywire is open to young people aged 16-22 living in regional or rural Australia. It encourages them to tell their stories to the world in text, photo, video or audio about their life. ABC staff provide mentoring and technical support to winners to produce their stories for radio.
Stay tuned for our Heywire Workshops for rural, regional and remote students in Year 11 and Year 12 in 2022 and you may be a future Heywire winner!
