Awards & Achievements

Student Awards

• Castlemaine-resident Robert Spencer won Best Certificate III in Furniture Finishing Apprentice at the 2006 Furnishing Industry Association of Australia Training Awards.
• A Kangan Institute vehicle painting apprentice and a PC Support student won Gold and five other Kangan Institute students took out the top silver and bronze medals at Australia's biggest trade skills competition, WorldSkills. Shaun Clarke (PC Support) and Stuart Aisbett (vehicle paint) picked up gold medals, while Robert Piper (Auto electrical) and Blake Seeley (VET in Schools horticulture) won silver. Picking up bronze were Fernando Gamero (IT Software), Rick Smith (Vehicle paint) and Hernan Gomez (Web Design).
• Seven Kangan Institute VET in School students had more than just the end of their VCE studies to celebrate, having been among a handful of Victorians to win an inaugural Australian Vocational Student Prize. Anthony Bonacci, Vassiliki Dandanis, Jayde Di Berardino, Evie Knight, Andrew Pollard and Sarah Smith picked up an Australian Vocational Student Prize, and Monique Vajda won a School-Based New Apprenticeships prize.
• Nine students took out major prizes in the prestigious 2005 State Government Tourism Students Business Initiative awards at the Novotel on Collins, including the overall winner's prize. Belinda Calvert won first prize of a return airfare to Europe and spending money to the value of $4,000 and will have the opportunity for paid work placement for a minimum of three months.
• Fashion student Mai Giang won first prize in the 'Underwear for Undercover' category of the Fashion Eisteddfod competition.
• The artwork of two Indigenous art and design students, Fiona Krakouer and Kevin Ellis, will be permanently displayed at the new Children's Koori Court Art in Lonsdale Street. Attorney General, the Honourable Rob Hulls, announced Fiona and Kevin as the first and second prize winners in the Children's Koori Court Art Competition in late 2005.
• Diploma in Sport and Recreation graduate Barry Firebrace, from Blackburn, was awarded the Outstanding Student of the Year-Koorie in the 2005 Sport and Recreation, Arts and Culture Training Awards (SpArta).
• Furniture apprentice Harry Strouzas was named the Mathews Timber Certificate III in Furnishing - Cabinet Making Apprentice in the 2005 Victorian Furnishing Industry Training Awards. Harry was the runner up in the same category in the previous year.
• 19-year old horticulture student Steven Vella won the Fleming's Student Design Competition at the 2005 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show last weekend.

Staff Awards

• Tailored programs for industry and students got Kangan Institute recognised for 'Innovative Service Delivery' in the 2006 Community Services and Health Industry Training Board Awards. The winning entry comprised three programs run by the Moreland-based Community Services and Health department.
• International Services staffer Selda Koc won Kangan Institute's Staff Member of the Year Award at the Institute's internal recognition ceremony, Quest for Excellence.
• Business Enterprise Centre Manager, Tim Cremean was awarded for his work in the 'Development and Support of Small Business' at the Hume Business Awards, held at the Hilton Melbourne Airport in June 2006.
• Indigenous teacher Susan Reys won the Indigenous Art category in the 2006 Daffodil Day Arts Awards, run by the Cancer Council of Victoria. Sue's winning entry 'My next journey is a mystery' was a tribute to her father who was dealing with terminal cancer.
• A radical new invention designed and built at Kangan Institute has hopped to prominence by winning the Episode Award of the ABC television program 'New Inventors' in February 2006. The design is the brainchild of Kangan Institute employee, Colin Johanson, who became a quadriplegic with limited hand use, after a hang gliding accident 28 years ago.
• Kangan Institute's 2004 Annual Report was deemed the best in its category in the 2005 Australian TAFE Marketing Association (ATMA) Awards for Excellence in Marketing.
• Kangan Institute was recognised for its contribution to Indigenous education and training at the 2005 Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI) 'Wurreker' Awards. Terry Kildea, Manager of the Koori Programs Unit, accepted the Special Recognition Award in the TAFE Institute category at the Aborigines Advancement League in Thornbury.
• Glenroy's Penola Catholic College, in partnership with Kangan Institute's Sport, Recreation and Fitness department, was awarded the VET in Schools Excellence Award in the 2005 Sport and Recreation, Arts and Culture Training Awards. The award was for the Community Recreation program.
• Teacher Beth O'Brien was named on the 2005 Victorian Honour Roll of Women for her work providing TAFE training within the women's prison, the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Deer Park.

In other news...

• Channel Nine's 'Business Success' devoted a whole show to Kangan Institute's Business Enterprise Centre's work in the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). Commencing services in 1994, the BEC now provides NEIS help to approximately 330 start-up businesses each year.
• Building and construction teacher, Simon Roe, was one of three finalists in the Outstanding Teacher/Trainer of the Year Category for the 2006 Victorian Training Awards.
• Millinery teacher Waltraud Reiner set out on a three-month, 10,000 kilometre journey to raise awareness of depression through the 'Blue Hat project'. She conceived the Blue Hat project last year as part of her own personal journey in dealing with depression, and her understanding that publicity can help remove the stigma associated with it.
• Fashion teachers Mandy Penton and Rosanna Giacomini were awarded an International Specialised Skills Institute (ISS) TAFE Fellowship of $7,000 to research fashion education in Italy.
• Aircraft maintenance apprentice Rebecca Tapscott and retail trainee Cecille Weiss, were finalists in the Apprentice and Trainee categories in the 2005 Victorian Training Awards.