MORNINGTON Secondary College held its Year 12 VCE Vocational Major Market Day on 27 August to raise money for Speak & Share.
The market is one of the major assessment tasks for the Year 12 VM students, who spend months planning and operating their own stalls.
Students and staff from the school came together to buy items from the stalls and participate in a raffle, with all proceeds going towards Speak & Share.
Students Ivie Green and Ruby Capes said they decided to participate in the VM program to allow them to gain practical work experience for the industries they aspire to join.
“I’m more of a visual person,” said Green.
“I learn by seeing someone doing it. So, it’s easier when you can get the work experience rather than just studying for the actual industry that you want to be part of.”
Capes said the market was a chance for the students to work together and learn about the importance of community.
“We’ve all worked together so much more than we expected, helping each other,” said Capes.
“We did a lot of study about community and all the help that you can get and learned about budgeting and where donations go and how to help people.”
The students voted on the charity the proceeds would go towards and selected Speak & Share, a preventative mental health charity that delivers programs to help young people destigmatise mental health.
“We have had Speak & Share come in a lot, and I think everyone really relates to them because they promote mental health help for teenagers,” said Capes.
“Having them come in and talk to us was really good, and we’ve spoken to them about what they do with the donations, and I think everyone really wanted them to be where they go.”
Co-founder of Speak & Share Ben Farish said they want to normalise conversations around mental health and provide a space for people to talk about it.
“We’ve been going for five years now, so we run programs in schools, sporting clubs, and workplaces, as well as host community events and do a bit on the socials as well,” said Farish.
Farish said their school programs are one of the key pillars for the charity.
“Last year we facilitated programs for over 5,500 school students across the peninsula and towards the city,” said Farish.
“We want to connect with as many school kids as we can, and I think it’s really needed in the school community for kids to talk about the topic of mental health and feel comfortable opening up.”
Farish said it was amazing to see the students resonate and relate to the messages the organisation is trying to spread.
“For the kids to want to raise money for our charity and want to have us out and talk to us and learn more about Speak & Share is super rewarding and I think a credit to them,” said Farish.
“And they’re obviously starting the conversation for themselves, which is certainly important.”
Applied Learning Leader at Mornington Rebecca Slater said the market day is all about students coming together to work as a team and problem solve.
“We’re always working on making them work ready,” said Slater.
“So, everything from budgeting to planning to problem solving to working out who in the team does what, I think they all walk away having honed their skills, but also just really enjoying the success of their stalls as well.”
Slater said the staff are incredibly proud of the students and what they managed to achieve.
“I think you always get certain kids that rise in the moment and shine, and they get to show their best version of themselves,” said Slater.
“When you see that kind of energy in the room and how much everyone’s enjoying it and the other staff get to see what they’re doing as well, the staff are super proud. And then, the sum total of what we can donate as well is obviously really impressive too.”
First published in the Mornington News – 1 September 2026
