Aunty Cheryl Penrith shared some timeless advice on her visit to Griffith East Public School

Aunty Cheryl was recently awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her tireless work on behalf of the Riverina's Indigenous Community, but took the time to share stories of her grandmother for the book edited by Anita Heiss.

She shared some of the stories with the students at GEPS, after being invited by teacher Stephanie Downing.

"I'm really privileged to be included, writjng a story of my grandmother. Nan lived here in Griffith. For us, our songline was the trip from Tumut to Griffith, we did that a lot and she would point out who lived where," she said.

"I do the same thing with my grandkids, I tell them these stories and then if they get stuck or break down, they know there's people here who know our family."

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Aunty Cheryl shared her advice with the students, encouraging them to keep up their family connections as they develop into adults and harness their own identities.

"It's for everyone, not just Aboriginal people to know who you are and where you come from. That's really important, that's what I'd encourage young people here to do," she explained.

"I hope they can have those yarns with their grandparents, get to know some of their family stories."

Students jumped at the chance to ask Aunty Cheryl questions, but nobody was more pleased than Aunty Cheryl herself.

"They had too many questions, we actually had to cull them down," Miss Downing said.

"I'm really honoured to be here in Griffith. It's like coming home ... a little bit of my heart lives here," Aunty Cheryl said.

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