The Davidson High School Interact Club is one of the Rotary Club of Belrose’s best success stories.
Interact (standing for "International Action") is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by Rotary clubs
It is totally supported by the school. In fact, the school has allocated a period once a fortnight for meetings. All the Interactors are in the same cohort at school. They join Interact when they are halfway in year 10 and remain in the Interact Club until mid-Year 11. They are selected by the school. From the school’s perspective, they choose students who show leadership skills and they invariably take on the school’s leadership positions once they graduate from Interact.
Structure and Size
There are in the range of 20-25 students in the Interact Club. From the school end, the school’s Student Support Officer (SSO) coordinates the club. Every public high school in New south Wales has a SSO. The SSO is the best person to manage the Interact Club as they don’t have regular classes. We’ve met other clubs across our district that have also found the SSO to be valuable high school contact for Rotary Youth projects. We have developed a good relationship with the SSO at Davidson High School, and he has attended several meetings/events over recent years.
Support and Meetings
The club meets generally once a fortnight. The Student Support Officer always attends and there is always at least one Rotarian present but usually 2 or 3. An executive is elected with each new group, usually at the 2nd meeting. The roles are President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. With the current cohort, we have 2 presidents, Vice Presidents and Secretaries.
Our Youth service Director prepares a draft agenda before each meeting and sends it to the Student Support Officer and the Secretary who are requested to add any further items for discussion.
Projects
The club adheres to the Interact club guidelines by undertaking at least one School, Community and International project in each year.
As to the School project, the current cohort are considering the erection of a Rotary Peace Pole at the school. In fact, several of the interactors are to attend the erection of a Peace Pole at Oxford Falls by Warringah Rotary on Sunday 20 September 2026. This will help them understand the significance of the Peace Poll. The Interact Club also organises an annual sausage sizzle each year in aid of the Jane Mcgrath Foundation.
As to Community projects, the main one is the Borgnis Street Christmas lights where all the moneys collected goes to Bear Cottage, a hospice for children up to the age of 18 and situated at Manly. This is a mammoth task and it is fair to say that without the support of the Interactors from Davidson High School and also Rotarians from neighbouring clubs, we wouldn’t be able to manage it. In the 3 weeks leading up to Christmas, we raised over $55,000. To make the effort by the Interactors more meaningful, we arrange a visit to Bear Cottage on the school’s bus. The students often find this quite an emotional experience. The attached photo depicts the Interactors with certificates issued by Bear Cottage as a thank you for their efforts. Another annual community event involving the Interactors is the Easter Egg Hunt. This is a much-anticipated event in the local community and attracts a lot of people. In the past few years, we have held a number of Trivia Nights and, in the past 2 the interactors were of great assistance. More recently, 4 of the Interactors volunteered to help with the annual Beach2Beach Fun Run organised by Warringah Rotary and assisted by several Rotary clubs, including Belrose. Even with an early Sunday morning start, the 4 Interactors who volunteered were very cheerful.
The International project undertaken by the Interactors is the school of St Jude in Tanzania. In fact, Belrose Rotary was planning a trip to the school with the previous Interact group for January 2027. In fact, there was much communication between St Judes, Belrose Rotary and the Year Adviser at Davidson High School who used to be a travel agent. Belrose Rotary sponsors a student at St Judes and the Interactors have assisted Belrose Rotary with fundraising for that cause. Unfortunately, due to the unstable political situation in the Middle East and the Ebola outbreak in The Congo, that visit won’t be happening as planned in early 2027. However, but it may be revisited down the track.
The Interactors are now looking at another International Project, involving the construction of a well and fence in a village in Kenya. One of the DHS Interactors recently visited this village.
Mentorship
We are always mindful that the Interact Club is their club but offer guidance and suggestions along the way. There is always a ‘Rotary Education’ item on the agenda at the Interact meetings and that is delivered by one of the Rotarians. Periodically, Belrose Rotary invites 2-4 interactors to attend our Rotary meeting, to tell our members about their activities. This gives the Interactors invaluable experience in public speaking to a mature audience.