Blue brooches were all the rage at Ballarat Grammar this term with a ceramics project making a very visual stand to increase awareness about depression and anxiety, and raise funds for beyondblue.
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Ceramics teacher Ruby Pilven and a team of students and teachers spent lunchtimes making hundreds of blue brooches which were sold for $10 each around the school and through businesses in the region.
“I lost my aunt to suicide in 2003 when I was in year seven, and after I started teaching I realised a lot of students … suffer from anxiety and depression. I wanted to make a difference not only in their lives but to let them know it’s ok to talk about it if you’re feeling blue and everyone cares about you,” she said.
The blue brooches also became a conversation starter, and helped raise $11,880 for the charity.
“It was the kind of process any student could participate in. They rolled out slabs of clay, used patterned rollers on the surface, then cookie cutters to cut them out.”
