Wollongong school visits - 30/07/10

Josh Levy writes:

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Good afternoon from rainy Wollongong!

It feels good to be back on the road and walking into schools with no expectations and leaving them feeling inspired and 'awake' to the great work happening in these communities.

Warrawong HS won their Impact Award for their partnership with BlueScope Steel and others, here's a snapshot:

"The WACKI Film Festival, established in 2002, is an innovative program that has won widespread support across the community because of the way it helps students to develop skills in visual literacy, scriptwriting, acting and film production. A partnership with BlueScope Steel was formed in 2004 after a source of funding for disadvantaged schools was no longer available. Students investigate issues that impact on their everyday lives and acknowledge the diversity of their local community. The goal is to develop student self-esteem through the celebration of personal cultural backgrounds, including ethnicity, language and religion. Students from the school and five partner primary schools work collaboratively to write, act, direct and edit short films."

I spent half the day with two very passionate teachers and the Principal who had nothing but positive things to say about Schools First and the way the team approaches things - they are still talking about last year's Impact workshop and cocktail function - they loved it!

They also saw the 7PM Project last night which was great for them after meeting Peter Clayden at the state event last year and hearing their story, so good coverage all round.

The main outcome I picked up on was 'self-esteem' - each of these students get to play such pivotal roles in the film making process from scriptwriting through to acting and post-production; they then get to stand up in front of an audience to receive applause and awards at the film festival each year. It's a great program!

Off to the Illawarra Sports High School tomorro.

Thursday, 29 July 2010

Good afternoon all from drizzly Sydney where I have a nice view of the Opera House as I write this diary entry.

Another great day was had out on the road at Illawarra Sports High School. They are just around the corner from Warrawong HS, but a very different student make up and culture exists here. It's clear from the outset that they have the whole sports thing covered! There are literally hundreds of trophies and display cabinets recognising the students' various sporting achievements - which is why their winning partnership is so interesting, because it has absolutely nothing to do with sport!

Their major partner are known as i3net - Illawarra Innovative Industry Network - and they facilitate connections and open doors the school could only dream of having access to. One of these doors is to BlueScope steel. Students get to work with and be trained by employees of BlueScope which is a very unique opportunity for them.

The students have developed a new type of housing/buidling beam that could be used in areas that have been destroyed by natural disasters (e.g. Haiti) - these students created an idea that was so new that there was no tool that existed to build it, so they designed it themselves! Amazing!

Seeing these students interact in the real world was fantastic, they are very self aware and very well adjusted young individuals who now have a shot at gaining entry to things like civil engineering at University and can see a career for themselves - one that doesn't revolve around obtaining a sports scholarship like their peers.

One of the highlights of the day for me was hearing about how engaged the local NAB branch is, especially the branch manager David and his colleague Nicole - they have visited the students and the project more than 10 times already and have been offering mentoring to select students studying business studies etc.

Meeting David and Nicole was great and it's really reassuring to know they have such a strong presence there and that they are so welcomed. David is an ex-student of the school too, so he is really enjoying the opportunity to give back.