From left, Cranbourne Secondary College students Justin, Jason, Peter, Ashley, Nathan and Adrian with Bunnings representatives Di and Peter, students Stephen and Howard, SELLEN LCP worker Alex Palazzolo, college careers adviser George Mercer and SELLEN LCP worker Yolande Valente admire the school’s new barbecue.
A CAREERS program run by a Dandenong organisation has transformed the lives of 13 Cranbourne Secondary College students who had planned to leave school before finishing Year 10.
The South East Local Learning and Employment Network’s (SELLEN) Local Community Partnerships (LCP) division has this term been working with 13 students at Cranbourne Secondary College who were thinking about leaving school before finishing year 10 studies.
But after seven weeks of visiting and learning about local Cranbourne businesses and working together to build a barbecue for the school, the students now have a better understanding of what employers are looking for.
SELLEN LCP spokesman Alex Palazzolo, who alongside Yolande Valente helped deliver the project, said the program was called Adopt a School and allowed local businesses to promote skills to young people to ensure they stayed in school long enough to be qualified for employment.
Mr Palazzolo said that when he first met the group of students none could tell him what they wanted to do with their lives.
“But the results have been amazing,” he said.
“Two of the 13 have now got full time jobs and the remaining students are at least focused and know what they want to do with their careers.”
The students went on several Career Adventure days including visiting Aussie Disposals in Hampton Park, Freeway Ford in Cranbourne, and Bunnings in Cranbourne.
A representative from Bunnings then helped the students source materials and build a barbecue for the school.
This week, the barbecue was complete – but its first snag was not a cooked one.
A substitute barbecue had to be used for celebrations after someone spotted a Copperhead snake near the student-built barbecue.
