For a number of decades, Lyn Cooper made it her mission to ensure students in the Bathurst community were given a fair go to succeed, whether it be in the schoolyard or on the sporting field.
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After moving to the community in 1985, Ms Cooper quickly made her mark as a teacher at Bathurst West Public School, where she taught for 24 years.
Ms Cooper was responsible for initiating a number of school programs, including an anti-bullying program to foster a respectful schoolyard environment.
"Back in the 1980s, kids were always pushing, shoving and carrying on, and I wanted to help initiate a culture where students were more respectful of one another," she said.
"West Bathurst was a large school then, over 600 students, and after a fellow teacher told me 'that's just the way it is' regarding schoolyard bullying, I decided it won't be happening on my watch.
"So I put a survey out to parents, and around 85 per cent said their children were experiencing bullying on a regular basis, and I came up with a program to teach students about the harmful effects of bullying and offer incentives to deter them from picking on other students."
Ms Cooper also represented the Western area in the 1990s on a state-wide board to discuss the importance of delivering a child protection program in schools.
"At the time, one in three children experienced sexual harassment, which is the equivalent of 10 children in a class of 30," she said.
"I went to Sydney once a month to discuss what could be done to improve child protection in schools and when a program was devised, I was one of the first to trial the lessons at West Bathurst, as there was a set way of teaching it."
Ms Cooper was also influential in the development of girls soccer in the Central West, which was also born out of her time at West Bathurst.
"While on playground duty, I used to notice there wasn't a single girl on the oval, which was odd to me," she said.
"So I'd talk to the girls around the side to see why they weren't running around and they'd say 'the boys won't let us, because all they want to do is play soccer'.
Ms Cooper then sought interest from other schools to put together girls soccer teams for the NSW Primary Schools Sports Association [PSSA], with her West Bathurst team finishing top three in the state.
"It had an effect, the boys were volunteering to help the girls become better players in the schoolyard afterwards," she said.
Ms Cooper helped introduce a gender equity program into Western Region soccer associations, and has coached numerous representative teams, both for Bathurst and the Western Region.
She also helped introduce the Proctor Park Challenge, an annual pre-season interstate competition, which continues to this day.
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