Letter of the Week
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LL Y O W N
LOCAL NEWS
Thursday August 20, 2015 71983
6
Free youth drug seminar for parents at Cabarita
Mark Howlett, Kat Fermanis and Chris Hitchcock
A FREE seminar to be held next week in our community and there’s no stigma in Cabarita hopes to educate parents about the realities of drug use by young people in the community and the impact it can have on their children. 72427
Environmental Warriors The students of 4/5A and Mrs Anderson have been busy saving the planet. Science is a priority at Murwillumbah Public this year and 4/5A have been studying a unit called Friends or Foes. This unit provides opportunities for students to explore the special relationships between plants and animals. These lessons led to the students setting up a small market garden where they continue to sell their fresh herbs to staff and community members.
Friends or Foes required students to investigate the pollination process and the link between the bees and butterflies with global food production. They discovered that the world bee population is in sharp decline. 4/5A have planted specific vines and plants, with the cooperation of the Tweed Shire Council nursery, to attract butterflies. They have even written to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, in support of his initiative to restore the habitats of both bees and butterflies whose health is essential to our food supply. Also this term, students have been learning about plants and animals in a fun and scientific approach to learning through their participation in an on-line program run by the Wetlands Environmental Education Centre. Wet & Wild is a research challenge for Stage 3 students, which integrates technology, research skills, HSIE and Science. Students are challenged to find the names of 12 organisms using mixed sets of clues over three weeks. Over 160 individual classes across NSW participated in this challenge and 4/5A were one of only 11 who achieved a perfect score. Congratulations to Mrs Anderson and her class of environmental warriors. Keep up the good work!
The seminar, organised by the Cabarita Youth Service and scheduled to be held at the Cabarita Sports Club starting at 6pm on Monday 31 August, will focus on how to recognise signs of drug and alcohol use and its impact on youth mental health. One of the main speakers on the night will be Kat Fermanis from the Family Centre in Tweed Heads who said they are hoping this is the start of a regular quarterly series of events. “The seminar is all about arming parents with information about what to watch out for, how to communicate with their kids on the subject and how to find help if they need it,” said Ms Fermanis. “It’s all about noticing changes in behaviour, looking out for things like insomnia, anxiety, changes in eating habits, aggressive behaviour, changes in school performance or social habits. “There have been a number of suicides in this area in the past few years with more in Pottsville and Murwillumbah so we want to do whatever we can to open up lines of communication and create an environment where young people feel safe.” Youth Worker Chris Hitchcock said parents are the key to the entire process and need to understand they are not alone. “Parents often know more than they are willing to admit but they will find when they come forward that there is a whole network set up to support them,” said Mr Hitchcock. “The overall goal and reason for having the youth service here is to give young people an outlet and access to older mentors they trust who can provide them with some guidance, but that also extends to parents. “It really all comes down to parents making the call and seeking out help, there is a great capacity for support and assistance
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attached to seeking out information.” The evening will also feature speakers from other services including Intra and HeadSpace, practical advice for parents on how to effectively communicate and engage with their children around drugs and alcohol. Youth Service committee member Mark Howlett said it is important to provide a safe and secure place where young people can discuss such issues. “This is not just a parental or a police matter, it is an opportunity to showcase what this service can achieve in terms of providing support for everyone in our community,” said Mr Howlett. “It is natural for young people to push boundaries and experiment, we were all young once so we should understand, but it’s never a reason to write someone off and it’s important for the community to provide a space where they can get information and they know they won’t be judged.” Ms Fermanis said the emergence of crystal meth or ice in the community has increased the sense of urgency over educating parents. “This is something that has only really emerged in the past two years so statistics haven’t really caught up but there is no doubt it is having a real effect on our young people,” said Ms Fermanis. “We have plenty of evidence that it is as cheap and easy to get as pot and what is most concerning is that it’s not something most parents have any experience with from their own youth and just don’t know how to cope with. “Some people might think there’s a stigma attached to attending a seminar like this, as if everyone there will just assume your kids are on drugs, but it’s all just about arming yourself with the information you need.” For more information about the seminar look up the Cabarita Youth Service on Facebook.
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Ray White Rural Murwillumbah recognised in national awards OUR LOCAL real estate agency has again secured a significant recognition at the National Ray White Awards ceremony. Ray White Rural Murwillumbah took out third place in Overall Sales in the Rural office of the year category attended by 82 offices from across the country at the Gold Coast during the Ray White Connect Conference weekend. Principal Brad Franks and Jared Hodge opened the agency which is part of the Ray White GC Network in 2012, which caters to the entire Tweed Valley. It is great that we are from a small town of Murwillumbah and the Tweed Valley and come up against larger mining based towns, that would have achieved massive results in the past and we have outsold them this time around” The Agency’s Staff were singled out for special praise at the awards with Tom Carroll, Belinda Franks, Brad Franks and Ben Tribolet named Top Achiever with Premier Awards 2015. Tom Carroll also received the award for Excellence in Marketing and 3rd place in Customer satisfaction in the Group. The office also received Top Office for Customer Satisfaction. ‘This is a real point of difference in the town as no other office can offer such service; said Mr Franks. I am absolutely stoked to have Tom, Belinda and Ben perform so well on a national basis and it is a real testament to all their hard work that they have put in all year, I am also excited to have Kimberly Barwick and Stewart Baericke on board now already achieving outstanding results and hope for another great year of service and sales” Mr Franks said their position in the Tweed Valley is enhanced by their affiliation with the
Awards held in conjunction with Ray White Connect Conference on the Gold Coast
Our collection of awards from Sunday night! Four Premier Agents in the one office – Tom Carroll, Brad Franks, Ben Tribolet and Belinda Franks. 3rd Office nationally for sales for Australia for Rural. Excellence in Marketing – Tom Carroll. 3rd Customer Satisfaction (Tom Carroll) and No. 1 Office nationally for Customer Satisfaction. Gold Coast South Network of the organisa- secure that home with a mobile Mortgage cent addition of Cabarita Beach/Pottsville, tion. “It is great to be a part of the Ray White Broker, Steve McLean and Mark Harrison from bringing the Beach to the Bush. We also deal GC South Network, allowing us to be a One Loan Market. Our offices in our network are in Asset Management through our Living Stop Shop for all Real estate Needs from Sell- Palm Beach, Burleigh Waters, Coolangatta/ Here Offices and Commercial Sales and Leasing Business, asset Management, to helping Tweed Heads, Kingscliff/Casuarina and a re- ing.
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