“The partnership and the relationship between SALSA and the Giants is very important. Students have that frame of mind where it’s not just about me, it’s about how can I benefit the community and work with everyone around me.”

“SALSA gives students the opportunity to voice their opinion to actually take on what they are learning and be confident enough to express their views and the knowledge gained through the program, to other students.”

“After so many years, we see the need and inherent value of the SALSA program throughout the school. In a school where 25% of the students live in homes of considerable poverty and 200 of the 1125 students have health plans for chronic poor health, a health strategy of this kind is a powerful opportunity to change health and life outcomes for those students, for all students”

“SALSA has given peer leaders interpersonal skills to work in different groups, and strengthened the value to live healthy lifestyles. The program is a positive avenue for students to learn through creativity and practice.”

“The SALSA program has helped open channels of communication between younger and older students, as well as between students and teachers on not only health topics covered in this course, but also a much broader range of areas across all dimensions of health.”

“I think it’s a very neat model where you’re not just saying to students sit back and listen, and I’ll tell you all about it. We’re saying this is for you to be active – active in your learning, active in managing your lifestyle … but also active in giving the message more broadly to family and friends.”

“Seeing disadvantaged areas of Sydney that I wouldn’t be exposed to during my studies has been really beneficial for my career, and it’s been a real privilege to be involved in the SALSA Program.“

“At a time when western Sydney is experiencing a diabetes epidemic, the SALSA program‘s ability to contact so many young lives and reach into families couldn’t be more significant. Simply telling someone to do something rarely leads to sustained change”.

“I’m 13 years old. I’ve done the SALSA Program at school. I really enjoyed playing soccer and basketball with the Year 10 mentors, and it made me want to be active.“

“The SALSA Program is important because it teaches students leadership skills as it allows them to learn how to teach and allows them to experience and learn more about health through actually teaching, which is a good way to learn.”

“I’ve found being involved in the SALSA Program this year has increased my self confidence and motivated me to act as a role model and lead by example in attempting to influence younger students’ lifestyle habits.”