LEBO MJANGAZE
Stirling High School’s Interact Club has made an immutable impact on the community with various outreach projects that has earned them the Community Service Award for the busiest interactive club in the city at the 2025 East London Schools Interact Conference.
Awarded on June 16, the event was hosted by the Rotary club of East London in celebration of local youth service and leadership.
Director of youth for the Rotary Club of East London, Craig Thompson, said the goal of Rotary’s partnership with local schools was to foster collaboration between sponsor clubs, teachers and Interact members.
This award is handed out annually and 2025 marks the first win for Stirling High.
Stirling triumphed over 13 other clubs in the city because of variety of outreach projects they initiated, including sanitary towel drives, recycling collections, and fundraising for animal welfare, beach clean-ups and supporting vulnerable children and the elderly.
Through efforts of its 76 pupils, the Stirling High Interact Club has raised more than R10,000 combined for CHOC, Kennersley Park Old Age Home and Breath of Life.
Rotary of EL has commended Stirling High saying that judges were taken with the diversity of causes and meaningful contributions made by the pupils.
Grade 12 pupil Hayley Odendaal has been in the Interact Club since she started high school and said that this award means a great deal to her because of her long-standing commitment to the society.
Hayley said: “This award is more than just a win.
“It represents all the long hours of planning, volunteering, fundraising and dedication we put into the society. It shows that the work we are doing in our school and community matters. The team is full of pupils who genuinely care.
“Many teachers at our school have always supported us and led with such passion and they have set the standard for the club.
“I did not expect that we would win but I was certain that everything we have accomplished would be recognised as we have completed more projects than we have ever done before.
“Stirling has proven that we can go above and beyond for the East London community.”
Hayley hopes to see more collaboration between schools in future and more pupils investing time and resources into tackling social challenges at local level.
Teacher-in-charge of Stirling’s Interact Club, Rholene Llewellyn, said she was thrilled that the club had been recognised for its commitment towards making the world around them a better place.
Llewellyn said: “It is always fulfilling to see young people rise to the challenge as the members took full ownership of their projects and responsibilities.
“We maintained their enthusiasm by giving them a clear sense of purpose, regular encouragement, and leadership opportunities but their passion was the real driving force behind our success.
“This is our first time winning this award and it is made more significant by the strong competition from other schools.
“It [the award] validates all the behind-the-scenes effort and planning, the late afternoons, the sacrifice and above all, the heart that went into every project. It proves young people truly can be change-makers when given the right platform.”
