Making A Difference

Gateway’s Project Officer, Marc Swensson, recently invited SA Great’s

“Speakers In Schools” to visit Port Pirie and surrounding areas.  Making the trip from Adelaide, Jessica (SA Great), Lesley & Helen (ElectraNet), Andrea (Technology Industry Association) joined Marc (Gateways), Shaker & Elmore (JHI Builders) at John Pirie Secondary School, Mid North Christian College and Gladstone High School to talk to Year 10 & 11 students about their respective careers and pathways. 

With Marc acting as emcee, Lesley kicked off the presentation, sharing stories from days organizing the very first Tour Down Under, to her time in Italy and Nepal, to her current role as a Project Scheduler.  Armed with a Vegemite jar prop and give-away’s being thrown left, right and centre, Andrea then spoke about the different ways that technology is used in industry today. 

Local legends Brenton (“Shaker”) and Elmore from JHI Builders talked about

the benefits of volunteer work, supporting locals and Elmore’s journey to becoming Apprentice Of The Year.  All presenters were young, passionate and inspired all students in attendance.  Gateways thank all the students and schools for their support, and a big thank you goes to all the speakers for generously giving their time.

MNSEC go mining at BHP

September 16th saw over 30 students from Gladstone High School, Orroroo Area School, Mid North Christian College and Quorn Area School attend Gateway’s annual road trip to Olympic Dam.  For most of the students, it was their maiden voyage to Roxby Downs.  The bus chucked a mainy and a quick look around the town was followed by some well earned lunch. 

While at BHP Billiton, presentations included an overview of the proposed

mine expansion and guided tour by Public Affairs Officer, Deb Ainslie and an explaination of radiation and safety procedures on site.  Students and Gateways own Marc Swensson dressed up in the compulsory safety uniform (aka disco pants) making for some memorable dance moves and catwalk poses.  After some Q&A time, it was back on the road for the trip home.  Gateways also supplied Subway sandwiches for lunch, snacks, drinks and movies for the bus ride – and the students provided some cheeky sing-a-longs and great conversation.  Capped off with Hungry Jack’s for tea, the trip was long and fun with never a dull moment!

Jamestown Mock Interviews

During Term 3, Gateways Project Officer, Marc Swensson assisted Year 10 students at Jamestown Community School prepare for life in the work force.  One lesson saw the students divide into groups of three and perform mock interviews to the rest of the class.  In these groups, one person played the part of the interviewer, while the other students played the part of interviewees (one displaying a poor attitude and the other performing positively).  Over the following weeks, Marc facilitated and assited to perform formal mock interviews with all students.  Students were expected to be punctual and dress appropriately – treating the interview as if it was for a real job.

Career Expo Extras

it’s all about technique	Here we can see one of the many interactive displays from the Careers Expo. Apprentice painter, Will Young, shows this student the proper technique required for simple painting jobs, such as how to hold the brush correctly.
Child Care	There was lots of information to be found at the TAFE SA stall including info on Child Care courses, certificates in Retail and almost every other career you can think of! TAFE is a great avenue to follow up if you don’t particularly want to go to University but still want to continue studying.
Trainees: Workforce of the Future	These young trainees: Lauren Lowe, from ANZ Bank, with Brooke Smith and Kayla Hayes from Port Pirie Regional Council occupied their respective stalls advocating the advantages of on-the-job training in both finance and administration.
Acrylic Beauty	Haylee Pisani, owner of Bedazzled Beauty, gave students a close-up demonstration of how acrylic nails are applied by putting one on each student that popped by the Hair & Beauty stall  - needless to say there were a LOT of girls getting around with one sparkly, acrylic nail.
OZ Minerals Info	OZ Minerals representative Ross Sawes and Southern Flinders Regional Development Board member Terry Reichelt give this Peterborough High student some valuable information on employment in the mining sector.
Olympic Gold Medalist - Kyle Vander Kuyp	Kyle Vander-Kuyp, once a medal winning Olympic hurdler, is now a Dept. of Human Services Ambassador. Kyle was on the Centrelink stall, next to Gateways, at the Careers Expo, he will be appearing later in the year at Vibe Alive festival in Pt Augusta.
Manscaping Marc	Gateways for Youth Project Officer, Marc, shows that having your nails done is an essential part of manscaping before a gig – after having his nails buffed they were given a black polish for the next Sideshow gig – sweet as.

Southern Flinders Careers Expo 2009

Hair & Beauty demo

The Southern Flinders Career Expo returned to Port Pirie in 2009 – with more than 30 exhibitors peddling their informational wares to students from schools around the region. Students were able to move from stall to stall gathering information in many forms such as pack, pamphlets and good old verbal communication!

Schools that came to the Careers Expo included John Pirie Secondary School, Saint Marks College, the Australian Technical College, Mid North Christian College, Jamestown Community, Gladstone High, Peterborough High School, Booleroo Area School and Orroroo Area School.

Nyrstar display

Defectable vehicle

One of the very popular interactive displays was the ‘little red car’ which had a plethora of defective features which students were invited to try and find. The aim of the display was, not only to show students how many defects can be found on a vehicle and raise awareness of the importance of road safety, but also as an introduction to ‘a Day in the Life of’ a mechanic.

Another very popular ‘hands-on’ display was the ‘Tyre Changing Station’. Students were given a checklist to follow when changing a tyre, they were then give an opportunity to have a go at changing the tyre themselves to see how well they managed the task. Some found this no challenge at all while others struggled a little with the cumbersome task.

Spare tyre

We <3 Higher Learning

There was something for everyone at the Careers Expo, as well as the trades displays and other businesses who attended, there was also a place for those who planned to go on to University, with Uni SA and Flinders Uni in attendance with an abundance of course guides and information for students. Clearly, this was a big hit with many students who wish to go on to higher learning.

Another of the very popular stalls at the Careers Expo was the Australian Defence Forces display. With representatives from the Army, Navy and Air Force – the stall was buzzing all day with students interested in gaining ADFA training while also studying for a nationally recognised degree in one of a many number of fields.

Australian Defence Forces

Gateways a-go-go

Another stall that was buzzing throughout the day was our very own Gateways for Youth stall, with Marc, Liz and Rhianna (left) taking it in turns to be ‘on deck’ & give out information on Gateways, what we do, and how we can help students to discover which career might be for them. One of the most popular hand-outs of the day was the Job Matrix, which shows students projected statistics about almost any job you could think of!

Mining their own business

These students were the first of the five groups to take the BHP Billiton tour of Olympic Dam this year with students from Gladstone, Peterborough, Jamestown, Mid North Christian College and Booleroo Area School participating.