‘Voices of the Hills’ is a segment of the Hills Sydney Digital Magazine founded and created by Kaitlyn Farquhar where she interviews everyday members of our local community who make an impact in the Hills Shire. This segment isn’t about the politicians, or already mass publicised figureheads of our community, but the underdogs who are vital to making the Hills Shire such an amazing community. Whether they be teachers, scientists, local business owners, or even students, these people have been underrepresented in our Hills Shire media and deserve to have their stories told. In doing so, Kaitlyn wants to share our community’s stories because every Hills Shire’s voice matters, and deserves to be heard.
“Matheticin”. Therapist. Artist. Pilot. Builder.
These are the dreams of just a few children within our Hills Shire. With ambition, boldly spoken, even if the 
pronunciation is not quite right yet.
Every Tuesday afternoon in The Hills Shire when most kids are trekking their way home, a small group lingers in a classroom. They aren’t staying back for homework help. They’re here to learn something much harder: how to speak with purpose. Confidence. Clarity. Courage.
At the centre of this is local educator Priya Wani, a woman who understands the difference one little voice can make.
“I want to learn more like her…”
Each child in this program has a different reason for joining.
For some, she says, “… my mum says that I need to get better at speaking in public and making better speeches.”
I want to be good at speaking because I want to grow up to be a matheticin.”
Another wants to improve what she’s already good at: “I joined because I’ve always been a good public speaker but I can be better.” She continues, “My mum is a very good public speaker and I want to learn more like her.”
“Because I like to do speeches and learn more speeches.”
They aren’t being told what to say, rather, they’re learning how to say what they mean.
“They made me feel like I was more than my circumstances…”
Priya’s journey started far away from The Hills, in India. She grew up surrounded by structure, where education was seen not only as a priority, but as a pathway. “From a young age, I was taught the value of learning and resilience,” she says.
But what shaped her most wasn’t just the curriculum. It was the people around her.
“There were definitely a few key adults who made a difference–teachers, family members, and even community leaders…They made me feel like I was more than my circumstances.” She continued, “Growing up, I’ve experienced first-hand how much of an impact one caring, supportive adult can have on a child’s self-worth and future…it’s definitely has shaped the way I approach working with kids now…”
It is that feeling that she now works to pass on. 
After moving to Sydney in her twenties, Priya found herself volunteering during university. Then, she taught children how to use computers, something that was popular and simple at the time, but the impact of that was anything but.
“I watched them transform as they gained confidence and began to believe in themselves. That’s when I knew I wasn’t just helping them learn. I was helping them grow.”
“She always says, keep going and keep trying…”
That’s how Alaina describes Priya. It’s a small phrase but one that encapsulates everything about how Priya teaches. Before each session, Priya takes the time to ask her students how they are feeling or if they have anything on their minds. “For them, I think those first moments set the tone for the session. They know that it’s a safe palace where they can focus and engage without pressure” she notes. Priya builds relationships where her students know they can express themselves without fear of judgement. Priya identified that, whilst academic success is important, emotional resilience and self-confidence and a sense of belonging is “just as crucial”. Whether that be the structured activities, or even the informal conversations, Priya ensures they know that they not only know they are heard, but their feelings matter.
“There’s a warmth and sense of belonging here that makes it easy to connect and feel valued…”
Although Priya doesn’t live in the Hills, she spends most of her weeks here, and has so for nearly two-and-a-half decades, with her work centred in the Hills Shire local school community. “There’s a warmth and sense of belonging [to the Hills Shire] that makes it easy to connect and feel valued” she blissfully recounted.
Such schools have become very familiar to Priya as they see her as a trusted figure who listens first and encourages students to speak with confidence and intention. It’s clear the Hills Shire means something to her. “There’s a warmth and sense of belonging here,” she reflects. “It makes it easy to connect, to feel valued.”
That connection runs deep. Priya speaks about the area with genuine affection: “People in the Hills genuinely want to see each other succeed.” It’s that spirit of encouragement, she says, that makes her work here so fulfilling. “There’s a shared understanding in this community,” she explains, “a common belief in creating spaces where children feel supported, not just academically, but emotionally too.” And it shows in the classrooms she teaches, where teachers and parents work side by side. “That kind of partnership really changes things for kids,” she says.
Even though her home is not in this community, Priya’s sense of belonging here is undeniable. “The families, the schools, the children…they’ve made me feel like this is my community too.”
And as the sun starts to dip lower on the horizon of another Tuesday afternoon, the children begin to gather 
their things to be returned to OOSH to reunite with their parents. It’s quick and routined but something lingers in the room…something more than a mere lesson or speech. It’s the echo of giggles, the spark of innovation, and the undeniable energy of young voices learning to seize their own power.
Whilst today they are school students at a local Hills Shire school, tomorrow they will be artists, pilots and even “matheticin(s)”. For these children, these are not only dreams today, but their, and our, futures, tomorrow.
In the centre of it all stands Priya Wani quietly building a future where every child believes in the strength of their own voice for the betterment of them, the Hills Shire, and the world tomorrow.
If you have anyone you would like to nominate anyone who either lives or works in the Hills Shire to become next week’s ‘Voices of the Hills’ interviewee, please email the author, Kaitlyn Farquhar, kaitlyn@dreamscape.com.au .
Please include in the subject line:
Voices of the Hills Nomination: (Insert Name of Nominee)
