‘You can’t help but help’: year 12 students forgo VCE study to fortify Echuca’s town hall against floods

Year 12 students from St Josephs college in Echuca, Victoria don’t know if their VCE exams will start next week, but they are busy protecting the town from floods. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Cleo Oberin was meant to spend Wednesday celebrating “muck-up day”, the final day of high school for her and her classmates.

Instead, she was armed with a shovel on the main street of Echuca in Victoria with an army of teenagers, fortifying the historic town hall.