Year 10 can be a tough time. You are not really a kid, and certainly not an adult – and you often find yourself stuck between your peers, your parents and your own sense of self. 

Coonamble High School student Aaliyah Bartholomew describes year 10 as “hitting a hard part in life.” 

“I made a choice to hang out with these girls and it kind of backfired on me. I thought they were my friends but they were just using me to fight their battles. I was getting suspended because of all the drama these girls caused and because these girls would not fight their own battles. It happened for most of the year. It just got too much and I couldn’t handle it anymore” she told the Western Plains App.   



Looking from the outside-in school Principal Stewart Vidler said “She wasn’t loving school, I met her in year ten and was someone who could get into conflict with other kids. Was pretty argumentative. Didn’t have a good sense of her self. Maybe even a little bit angry”. 

That anger turned inwards – Aaliyah became suicidal. “Mum pulled me out of school and she thought it would be the best idea and I suppose it was. I cut myself off from social media and I took some time for myself” she said 

When she returned she got involved with NASCA, a 100% Indigenous-led organisation dedicated to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, particularly in schools.  

NASCA “works through Culture to connect with Community and Country, strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples’ capacities and supporting them to realise their aspirations”. 

What interested Aaliyah about NASCA is that the organisation was offering a trip to the Northern Territory, but to get there she had to improve her behaviour and get off her “yellow card” at school. 

“My NASCA worker helped so I could go and get off my yellow card. I had the best time of my life in the Northern Territory. It was about a celebration for Aboriginal people for NAIDOC week. We learned about the Aboriginal people from there. We learned about smoking ceremonies, weaving and how they relate to their land”. 

Aaliyah told the Western Plains App that her NASCA worker “understands what it's like to be a teenager” and that everyone at NASCA “was all so nice to me and all wanted to help me”.     

“So much has changed since then,” she said “my grades used to be so bad, I've worked very hard tp get them back up again. The people I thought were my friends I've basically cut off, now I just have one or two close friends, I'm not into the drama anymore, I'm not interested in that now" 

Principal Vidler told the Western Plains App “Aaliyah was challenged to take on the responsibility to carry on the stories for the next generation. Her grandfather is a well-respected elder and has so much cultural knowledge that needs to be passed on, and Aaliyah was encouraged to see that was her role to carry it on”. 

NASCA works across 19 schools in NSW and the NT. It also runs volunteer programs that support indigenous people in nine remote communities. Its program has worked in keeping more indigenous in children in schools and aspiring them to have career and life goals. 

“NASCA achieves some really good results in terms of keeping kids on track who are starting to look a bit shakey. It does some really good things in terms of identity and putting support mechanisms in place” Principal Vidler said. 

“Through her involvement in NASCA Aaliyah has become a really engaged student. She is a young woman who has a real sense of her life and a determination to get through high school and get a result.  An inspiring story of someone who has figured herself out.” 

Aaliyah is now working with NASCA to achieve her next goal – to enroll in the army and work with it as a veterinary nurse.