Indigo Interview: A love of creating learning experiences for youth

Dannielle Bell was born in Melbourne and moved to Beechworth with her family when she was nine years old. “I left when I finished school and returned to Beechworth and then moved to Stanley with my own family in 2011,” she said. What do you do workwise? I am an educational designer at Charles Sturt University, and I am also the founder, director and facilitator of The Dragonfly Project which includes a youth theatre company and educational and transformational programs for young people, mostly girls. What brought you to your role/career? The educational design role is a recent career move, after 20 years in primary and secondary education. I needed a change and I was drawn to this role as I enjoy designing and building learning structures and was keen for the challenge of university curriculum design. The Dragonfly Project was born out of the need to support young people to grow and thrive into adulthood in more meaningful and creative ways. What do you love about your work? I love creating and facilitating meaningful learning experiences, and seeing young people creatively inspired and naturally motivated to grow and take on new opportunities. I particularly love seeing my Dragonfly Theatre group flourish in our community. Most of the girls have been with me since we began five years ago. What do you do in the community? I have been actively involved in the Beechworth Football and Netball club for the last five years as both of my sons have played for the club. I have been a team manager in the junior club and coordinated the canteen. I now sit on the Stanley Collective committee and am working towards the reopening of the Stanley School. Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing? I feel strongly about creating more spaces for young people in rural and regional communities, to connect and to be actively engaged in community. I also feel our ageing population needs to be better supported. And of course, the potholes! What would you do to solve change, improve that situation? Create more opportunities for young people to be mentored by community members, to engage them in meaningful and purposeful work and activities that provide them with a sense of belonging and value in our community. What do you see as one of the important current world issues? Cost of living pressure is creating mounting tension across the world, and autocratic leadership is driving division in countries and communities. Both of these issues pose a real threat to peace and stability in our world. If the person you would most like to meet came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why? I think I would like to meet a woman who lived here in Beechworth during the gold rush. I would love to learn more about what it was like for women at that time, what they endured and how they learnt to thrive. I would ask her to show me significant places in the town. What book are you reading? I am currently obsessed with Phillipa Gregory’s novels. I am late to the party on her work, but am loving the scandal, brutality and passion of medieval times. I also just read ‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah and loved it.

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