05 Feb 2016
Jessica Atkinson in Year 10 was recognised with the Youth Award by Gosford City Council's Australia Day Awards.
At 14 years young, Jessica Atkinson has developed and implemented a sun safety program for primary school children across our community.
As a volunteer in the Youth Frontiers program, Jessica developed the 'Beat the Heat' initiative after identifying a gap in the delivery of sun safety education in local primary schools.
Based on information from the Cancer Council and other reputable organisations, Jessica researched, created and delivers the program to primary school students, all on a volunteer basis.
Jessica has also made an on-line version of the program available to enable local schools to successfully access and deliver the 'Beat the Heat' initiative independently.
In addition, Jessica single-handedly approached national and local corporations to coordinate program sponsorships, with companies willingly supplying items to support this innovate and youth-driven grassroots community campaign.
See the story on the Gosford City Council website.