David Wheaton, Anthony Taylor and students from Stawell Secondary College presented to the Good Practice Partnership Showcase, held at Dunkeld on 18th and 19th of August.

The Showcase was an opportunity to celebrate the Good Practices being implemented to help and assist young people in many and varied ways both in the Grampians Region and beyond.

The presentation included information from CGLLEN Chief Executive, David Wheaton, about CGLLEN’s Partnerships Projects Initiative which provides funding for schools to develop partnerships with local industries and other youth support agencies to create projects that engage and involve young people.

“Projects must focus on students who have been difficult to engage at school and also include real community based partnerships. The partners work together at all stages of these projects” Mr Wheaton said.

The Showcase Selection Panel selected the Kids and Wheels project managed by Stawell Secondary College as an example of the initiative in action.

The Kids and Wheels project has been a partnership between Stawell Secondary College and local industry including: Stawell Gold Mines, AME Systems and Stawell Auto Pro. 78 Year 8-12 “at risk” students have been involved in the project coordinated by Anthony Taylor, Head of Technology Department at Stawell Secondary College.

Anthony and his team of students gave a exciting presentation which focused on the research, design, production and evaluation of an energy efficient vehicle within the rules of the RACV Energy Challenge. Students participated in the four-day national competition at the end of the 2004.

Managing Director of AME, Peter Carthew, also spoke about how his businesses benefited from being involved in the Kids and Wheels project and congratulated Stawell Secondary College on the outstanding success of the project.