Community & Business
21 November, 2025
Lions Youth of the Year builds confidence in rising leaders
Last week, six grade 11 students from Pittsworth State High School (PSHS) courageously participated in the annual Lions Youth of the Year. Each contestant was placed in the spotlight to be scored on their public speaking, communication and interview skills by a panel of judges.
The students made themselves, their school and their families proud, highlighting the success of the Lions program to foster, encourage and develop leadership and citizenship qualities in young people.
“The future of Pittsworth is in good hands,” one of the judges said.
The students who participated were Gracie Lightfoot, Lachlan Folker, Jasmine Perkins, Emilie Peck, Tyson Moore and Freya.
Lions Youth of the Year Co-ordinators, James Evans and Kerri Crighton, invited Tim Hoffmann, Kerry McIntyre and Helen Avery to form the judging panel.
While Tim and Kerry have been on the panel for many years, it was Helen’s first time as a judge.
The title of Lions Youth of the Year was awarded to Jasmine Perkins.
For the Public Speaking Award, an unusual event occurred, as there was only 0.1 of a point between the top three contestants.
By the end of the night, a tie was declared between Gracie and Tyson.
Earlier that day, the students were interviewed individually by the judges for 30 minutes at the school.
The three general knowledge questions put to them during the interview touched on local, national and worldwide issues.
The official part of the program commenced that evening at the Pittsworth Motor Inn.
The students gave two impromptu talks, followed by a prepared speech which was to be delivered in a strict five minute time frame.
Pittsworth Lion, David Garratt, was the timekeeper.
The impromptu questions put to the students were:
1. At the start of December, the Australian Government will introduce strict laws on the use of social media by people under the age of 16. Social media platforms that do not take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from having accounts may face penalties. Is this a necessary step to be taken by the government and what do you see as the positive and negative consequences of these laws?
2. Is it ok to wear pyjamas in public? Is this symptomatic of a society which disregards what others think, or is this acceptable?
Each student was able to name a positive and negative consequence of the incoming social media law, and it was universally agreed that it is absolutely acceptable to wear pyjamas in public.
The contestants then presented their prepared speeches, on a topic of their choice, which were:
Gracie: the need to create awareness for young people about neurodegenerative diseases such as Dementia, Alzheimers and Parkinsons, which realistically may affect them in the future.
Lachlan: the trade shortage being experienced in Australia and the influence of videos on social media encouraging young people's negative attitudes toward completing apprenticeships.
Jasmine: the medical care crisis facing rural Australia - a need for doctors to stay in the bush to support not abandon rural communities, and that everyone deserves access to high quality care regardless of their postcode.
Emilie: Youth crime and the causes of re-offending such as poverty, housing instability, family breakdown, exposure to domestic violence, and drug and alcohol dependence; and her own testimony of faith.
Tyson: the dark world of consuming and promoting steroids and performance enhancing drugs in the weightlifting industry, and the negative impact of gym influencers on social media, who set unrealistic standards for young people.
It would be remiss to leave out that Tyson’s entire speech was delivered with only a scrap of paper for his notes.
Freya: the identity crisis facing young people today. The unspoken pressure and expectation on adolescents from their parents, social media and schools, to know their passions, plans and pathways, as if success has a deadline.
The overall feedback from the judges was encouraging.
“Fantastic job, you should be very proud of your efforts," Mr Hoffmann said.
"You really did an exceptional job.”
Mrs McIntyre said it was a pleasure to get to know each contestant and hear about their passions.
“I’d love to know, this time next year, what you’ve achieved," she said.
Mrs McIntyre did bring to light what might have been a missed opportunity for some of the contestants.
“That application form is the key to that whole process and some of you did not put the time into filling that in, that you needed to,” she said.
The purpose of the application form is for the judges to learn more about the applicant, and potential contestants for 2026 are encouraged not to be shy!
Prior to the speeches, Ava Schultz, who was the 2024 Lions Youth of the Year, explained to the contestants how participating in the program had a positive impact on her.
Other attendees on the night included the students' families, Pittsworth Lions and PSHS Acting Principal Dan Norris.
