Four Scots All Saints College students will head to Lake Macquarie next month to participate in the UNICEF NSW Youth Drought Summit in October, which will provide them with an opportunity to help support drought-affected communities.
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The four students - Holly Stokes, Fecility Webb, Harriett Mitchell and Will Thomas - have all grown up in farming families and are well aware of the different ways the drought has severely affected farmers.
Will Thomas' family has two properties - one at Cudal and one at Tullamore - covering over 13,500 acres of land, with sheep and cattle on it.
Mr Thomas said the summit will provide a chance for him to meet other students in similar situations.
"It'll be good to meet other kids and see if they experience the same kind of things," he said.
He explained that water isn't a problem on his family's land, with the dams on their property able to hold water adequately.
However, the lack of rain hasn't been great for his family's crops.
"When I went home on the weekend I noticed how the crops are going backwards," he said.
"We have to feed the sheep and cattle grain and hay almost everyday."
Headmaster John Weeks said the school is proud of students who will participate in the drought summit.
"It is wonderful to see students taking the initiative to make charge not only for their communities but other communities struggling with drought," he said.
"Many areas of the Central West and regional towns including our own on-campus farm are not immune to the affects of drought.
"Our agricultural faculty has been looking into ways of maximising water usage and adopting sustainable practices to secure feed for stock on our own college working farm which is a valuable educational resource for our students."
The farm at the Scots campus had a successful lambing season with most ewes having twins or triplets, making drought planning even more critical to ensure there is enough feed and water to support the growing stock numbers.
The drought summit will be held from October 9 to 11.