Jessica has a heart of gold
St Mary's DSG's Jessica Scott has a heart of gold and has helped thousands by volunteering at some of the most needy organisations in the country and even started her own organisation.
JESSICA Scott, a Grade 12 pupil at St Mary’s DSG, is the school’s superstar for this month.
According to the school’s deputy head, Jo Kinsey, she is a remarkable young woman whose passion for life and learning is inexhaustible.
She has been involved in several programmes and debates with the aim of empowering youth to make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s social and economic transformation, such as the Democracy Development Programme and the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement Science Debate, among others.
Jessica was placed in the top 10 in the National Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships for her speech on human trafficking. She attended the Global Young Leaders’ Conference, which included a United Nations debate and Security Council meeting in New York, where she was appointed as vice president of a Trade and Globalisation Commission and ambassador for Brazil.
She was selected to take part in the exchange programme to Australia in her Grade 10 year and is a member of the Durban Youth Council.
“Jessica has a strong sense of social justice and currently heads up the social responsibility programme at the school. She has been involved in the following outreach projects: Interact (a group of senior girls who are concerned with the welfare of the needy in the greater community) and SMILE (a programme that focuses on teaching conversational English to rural schoolchildren) as well as several charities and organisations out of school.
” A few of these include: St Vincent’s Orphanage, Hillcrest Hospital, Bobby Bear (an organisation that provides care and counselling for rape victims), Makaphutu Children’s Home, Wentworth Hospital, Jes Foord Foundation, Nyusa Project (teaching children basic sustainability skills) and Pencils of Promise (saving so that she can build a school in the future),” Kinsey said.
Jessica initiated the RiseUp Youth Movement to inspire change in South Africa by encouraging young people to take a stand against human rights violations through peaceful protests, petitions and community service and, with the help of her friend, Sabrina Strauss, made a YouTube video which enabled them to raise enough money to register the project as a non-profit organisation.
Jessica has also volunteered and been recommended for the Hope-Global Youth Ambassador Programme in 2015.
“We are extremely proud of Jessica. She is a shining example of what young people can achieve,” Kinsey said.
