After some daring and dazzling dance moves by newsreader Chris Bath on 'Dancing with the Stars', it was no surprise to see her in a sequel air guitar performance at Australia's 'Step to the Future' forums in Sydney last week.

The newsreader was there to give Catholic secondary school students
some quality advice on how to meet the challenge of their futures.
 
But it was the courageous stories of Paralympian Tina McKenzie, seven-time world champion surfer Layne Beachley, former Children's Court Magistrate Barbara Hollborow and former NBL Basketballer Eric Bailey that most affected students from Marist College, Penshurst.
 
Seven students from the College (Nick Hart, Lachlan Colley, Ashely Dooling, James Edwards, Simon Nardo, Vass Stylli and Damien Woodbridge) were the driving force behind the annual youth event to inspire and empower participating students and fill them with a can-do attitude.

They had the responsibility of organising speakers, promoting the event and successfully running the show.

Held over two days - with the junior forum (for years 9 and 10 students) on Thursday and the senior (for Years 11 and 12) on Friday, the event attracted an audience of 1,000 students from all over NSW at the Wesley Conference Centre.

The one thing they all had in common was that they were reaching a point where the end of school was near, and were feeling pressure to reach goals and make decisions.

Fr Chris Riley was the keynote speaker at the junior forum, telling students of his experiences of working with young people at Macquarie Fields.

Organising teacher Steven Skoflic, from Marist College Penshurst, says it was inspirational to hear first-hand accounts of struggles that most students have only ever discussed 'theoretically' in the classroom.

"From Barbara Bonfield's experiences of learning to live with her vision impairment to Barbara Holborow's emotional recounts of her crusade on children's rights, it encouraged the students to be positive about stepping into their own futures," he said.

"We shared a valuable and inspiring learning experience at this forum. At the end of the day, that is one of the greatest experiences of teaching."

Vass Stylli, College Captain and one of the seven students from the organising committee described the forum as 'awesome'.

"Working backstage I was stunned to witness 1,000 high school students 'just listening'," he said.

"Being part of the organising team was an invaluable experience too. I was lucky enough to get to cross live to Channel 7's newsroom, and be interviewed 'live' by Chris Bath as though I was on national TV.

"On forum day, I learnt that if you believe in yourself, you can achieve your goals. Nothing is impossible, and I hope that other students got that message!"