The Noble Oz Awards

An Oztry Youth Assist initiative, first presented to 67 Presidents of Rotary District 9680, on August 18th 2006. School Principals, Rotary Club Presidents, Youth Service Agencies & Corporate Leaders of Australia are cordially invited to 'Lead The Way.'

Introducing the Noble Oz Awards Project, a unique world first

Youth learn social and emotional life skills through the WhyTry program conducted by teachers, student welfare and wellbeing counsellors, school psychologists or youth agency-based counsellors who have been Certified as WhyTry Facilitators by Oztry Youth Assist.

Youth between the age of 12 to 25 years old can apply for a Noble Oz Award by nominating an adult to bear witness to the applicant's personal growth journey. Each applicant will record and submit a self-assessment application, supervised by an adult, documenting the applicant's positive cognitive and behavioural improvements over an 18 month post-WhyTry time period.

Award guidelines will specify a range of cognitive and behavioural standards. The first six months, the 'No Bull' period of the applicant's post-WhyTry journey, will direct the applicant to acknowledge unrealistic, distorted and self-defeating thoughts and behaviours which are hindering personal growth. Applicants are encouraged to record cognitive and behavioural changes, discernable increases in self-respect, self-improvement and self-determination.

Noble Oz Awards aim at encouraging, recognising and rewarding youth for demonstrating noble acts, acts of kindness, community service, self-determination, perseverence, and resilience.

Rotarians for many decades have led the way in community service and civic consciousness. Australian youth, in learning to be noble, can do the same. The Noble Oz Awards project will encourage youth to realise their potential to become creative, compassionate and contributing citizens.

The 'Noble Oz Awards' are trademarked. Intellectual Property Registration approval is anticipated in the coming months.

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Primary motivation for the Noble Oz Awards (NOA) Project:

  1. To encourage as many Aussie youth to build self-respect by choosing to act nobly, demonstrate civic consciousness and build social capital and goodwill. Aussie youth can tap into their real potential to be productive citizens and positive exemplars to the world. Noble youth will help to build a more compassionate Australia.
  2. To enable supervised self-assessment and self-discovery on the part of youth. Youth need an organised and tangible way of being encouraged to do the 'right thing' and to help society through self-improvement. They need to have a reason to behave more positively. Youth need to be recognised for practising the social and emotional life skills taught in the WhyTry Program. The Noble Oz Awards are a cost-effective way for adult Australians to say "thank you and well done " to youth.
  3. To enable youth to start building a personal support system - starting with an adult 'Awards Supervisor Mentor' who will recognise and encourage behavioural improvements in the applicant, over an 18 month post-Why Try period.

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Who will benefit?

Australia desperately needs to have more ‘noble' youth, who are empowered with social and emotional life skills to enable them to be socially and emotionally constructive citizens.

Participating Rotary clubs in Australia provide resources of a unique, cost effective cognitive behaviour training program, the WhyTry program. It is able to benefit a broad spectrum of youth and provide schools with help for students achieve wellbeing.

Rotary's pioneering work, in the past 3 years, should now be expanded to benefit our 2,500 high schools in Australia. Potentially, we can assist 230,000 Year 7 students annually to benefit from WhyTry and be eligible to apply for Noble Oz Awards. Corporate Australia, Rotary and well wishers can build stronger local communities by empowering youth with social and emotional life skills.

Noble Oz Awards Project Participants:

  1. When each of our 1,200 Rotary clubs in Australia commits to supporting two WhyTry schools, Rotary Australia will be able to, annually, equip 4,800 teachers and 96,000 students with WhyTry resources.  All 96,000 students are potential Noble Oz Award recipients.Your Rotary club can begin by equiping two teachers and 40 students from a high school to pilot WhyTry and participate in the Noble Oz Project. We now know that WhyTry works. It has benefited over 4,000 students in over 70 schools, as at August 18 th , 2006. This number is increasing, thanks to Rotary. Please, do not wait until July 2007, the next Rotary year, to join this partnership with schools project. Why not hold an extra fundraiser to enable your local high school to pilot WhyTry in the first half of 2007?
  2. All Australian youth who have completed the WhyTry Program, aged 12 to 25, can apply for a Noble Oz Award. All applicants will receive a Congratulatory Certificate. Oztry will approach 6 people in each state to sign the Certificates for e.g. respective State Premiers or State Education Ministers, sporting, entertainmentpersonalities, a corporate leader and a prominent citizen..to sign the Certificates. Oztry intends to invite the Prime Minister of Australia to launch the Noble Oz Awards in October, either 9 th or 16 th, 2007. National and state winners would each be awarded a tangible prize donated by local and national businesses and corporations.
  3. Adults. Student wellbeing counsellors, student welfare teachers, school psychologists, parents, youth mentors and any adult who wishes to participate as an Awards Supervisor/Mentor, will be able to sign-off on a Noble Oz Awards application.
  4. Corporate, individual donors and charities will be approached to contribute in-kind prizes, employment opportunities and other incentives associated with encouraging noble acts from Aussie youth. Various prize incentives. As Rotary resources are limited, Corporate Australia will be approached to donate WhyTry teaching and learning resources and fund their 'Australianisation'.

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Youth Mental Health Crisis deserves Rotary Down Under’s crucial support:

The urgent need for early prevention and intervention programs for youth was repeatedly acknowledged by the recent Federal government's "National Approach to Mental Health - from Crisis to Community" March 2006 report, calling on community based service organisations to "actively contribute to alleviating the current youth mental health crisis."

Health service agencies and Rotary Clubs now have a unique early prevention youth mental health service resource in the WhyTry Program that can meet the needs of Australian youth. Your organisation can encourage youth in your high school to be 'noble'.

Your local high schools will welcome your Rotary club's donation of WhyTry resources to enable the initial roll-out of the WhyTry Program. Schools can then choose to expand the WhyTry Program for the following year.

The WhyTry program empowers youth to achieve social and emotional wellbeing.

This multisensory cognitive behavior training program, with emphasis on strength based practice and solution focused strategies is unique in Australia , teaching youth to:

  • Understand the consequences of decisions
  • Remove negative labels, build self-esteem
  • Manage anger, increase social and emotional intelligence
  • Overcome negative peer pressure
  • Live and respect society's laws and rules, learn self-discipline
  • Build a personal support system
  • Set realistic goals and have a vision of one's future
  • Appreciate the value of exerting time and effort.

Please provide feedback, advice, and suggestions to:

David Yap, Rotarian, Rotary Club of Brookvale, D 9680
Email: oztry@bigpond.com  
Mobile: 0438 208 407

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