During Week 5 of Term 3, the Amnesty International Leaders at Westlake Girls held the annual Freedom Challenge for 2024. The Freedom Challenge is a chance for students to apply their vision for social justice by standing collectively as one to advocate for a specific issue. This special week aimed to educate students on world problems such as the Ukraine – Russia war and to inspire the next generation of world leaders and activists.
During the week, there were four activities, one for every lunchtime from Tuesday to Friday. On Tuesday, a slideshow presentation was displayed in each year-level Amnesty classroom, where students were educated on the injustice of the Russia – Ukraine war. A Kahoot was played after this, where the lucky top three won a small prize.
On Wednesday, there was a fun poster-making competition to promote knowledge on this subject, and the winner was announced a week later. All of the posters made were colourful and informative. Keep an eye out for them in the upstairs A-block corridor!
During lunchtime on Thursday, we were lucky enough to have Margaret Taylor, a long-serving activist from Amnesty, speak about her experience working for a humanitarian organisation and how she has been able to make a positive impact. She was such an inspirational speaker, and we were so grateful to have her speak to us!
Finally, on Friday, we held a fun scavenger hunt where participants hunted in A block to find the answers to social justice questions.
Freedom Challenge week was a smashing success. A huge thank you to all of the Amnesty Leaders and the hard-working Ms Wilson, who did an amazing job organising this event.
Remember to keep an eye out for the next Freedom Challenge in 2025 and to keep fighting for social justice!
By Laura Mackenzie.