Rochester Secondary College’s First Nations students wearing their new First Nations shirts.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Rochester Secondary College unveiled its newly designed First Nations shirts on Thursday morning.
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All those who had a hand in the creation of the shirts were present including some of the First Nation students parents.
Neva Takele, a member of the Wollithica clan who had worked with the students to create the shirts, had the honour of presenting the shirts for the first look.
Ms Takele said she felt privileged to be a part of the creation and encouraged the Indigenous students to be proud of who they are.
“It was such a privilege to work with these kids and seeing the sense of pride instilled in them to create this artwork and to talk about who they are,” she said.
“We’ve seen a change in the kids since we started encouraging them to never be ashamed.
“I hope they wear these shirts with pride and be proud of who they are.”
The idea for the shirts came about in Term 1 when First Nations students were given the opportunity to share ideas on how they wanted their Indigenous identities to be recognised.
After deciding to create a shirt, the students worked closely with the school’s student liaison officer, Christine Carty, and Ms Takele to bring it to life.
The shirt features cultural designs with a symbol of the Campaspe on the front.
On the back, footprints of different animals are pictured, representative of the students and the footprints they leave in their lives.
The back of the new First Nations shirts.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
College principal Matthew Koutroubas said the project allowed its First Nations students to have a voice in the school.
“We wanted to be able to allow our First Nations students to have a voice because we didn’t think they had as many opportunities to have their voice heard,” he said.
“All of this has come about from student voice and what students would like to see to help recognise their culture and celebrate their culture with their peers.”
The shirts will be worn by the First Nations students during culturally significant days or events.
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