In 2025, I have had the honour to be the president of the Interact Club, a student-led initiative designed to develop leadership skills and take action in our community through fundraising and volunteering! This year, we have participated in two projects: one international and local project respectively. For our international project, we have collaborated with Keilor East Rotary to donate financially to buy books for Cambodian Libraries. In terms of our local project, we have partnered with Saint Vinnies in order to volunteer with pricing and organising items for sale to those who are facing financial hardships.
To raise funds for our international project, we have consistently engaged in various school events. On 14 February, we started our first event of the year by selling Dessert Cups, creating a profit of $154. Then, for Harmony Day on May 2, we sold Noum Kong (Cambodian Donuts), creating a total of $152. For Youth Day on the 6 August, we made hot chips for the students, making over $300. Afterwards, we participated in R U OKAY DAY with lolly bags, creating a profit of $48. Finally, to conclude our fundraising events, we created two Movie Lunchtimes, making an overall profit of $203. These events could not have been possible without the contribution of all of the Interact Club members creating posters, manning the stalls and helping with the decision making of the items sold.
As for our local project at Saint Vinnies on 18 October, the volunteering students learnt how to price and organise the items given to them, eventually collaborating with one another and becoming friends. Their contributions to this event and the received positive feedback highlights its success in bringing students together for a like-minded cause, making a difference in our community.
Furthermore, in order to uplift student agency and engagement, we had sessions of practical activities such as creating Origami to put up during R U OKAY day, creating badges to promote Interact Club, colouring paper templates for the Movie Lunchtime and other numerous tasks. This has allowed students to develop their communication skills with other members but also their drive to uphold responsibility as an Interact Club member.
Being President of the Interact Club required me to learn how to think creatively for each event, organise the club meetings and events, and develop my leadership skills in decision making and adaptability. My time as President inevitably had its highs and lows, but regardless of this, every event for Interact Club has been nothing short of extraordinary with the assistance and appreciation of our club members and my executive team.
Thus, I would like to thank my Executive Team: Kaitlyn Au, Apirana Nicol, Julien Kanwar, and Taneesha Jeyanthan for their utmost dedication to the endeavours of the Interact Club. I hope the new executive team, led by the 2026 Interact Club President, Kaitlyn Au, with her new executive board: John Nguyen, Gabriella Orellana, Chahat Sidhu, Mai Nguyen and Ruby Pham will succeed in their efforts fulfilling the goals and aspirations of the Interact Club. I wish them the best of luck!
This year has been absolutely amazing – I wouldn’t change a thing!
Stephanie Truong 10D – Interact Club President 2025