Kangan Batman TAFE's top students for 2005
22 March 2005
Each year, Kangan Batman TAFE holds two Graduation and Awards Evenings to celebrate the achievements of its students. The first of these events will be held on Friday 1 April at Flemington Racecourse, and the second will be on Friday 13 May.
The following major Kangan Batman TAFE awards will be presented at the 1 April event, which recognises students from the business studies, and social and applied sciences training areas.
Student of the Year & Gold Medallion Award, Business Services
Cindy Mansfield
Winner: Cindy Mansfield
Given the number of fashion design awards she has won, you would think Cindy Mansfield has always been at the cutting edge of fashion. Not so. She happily admits she was a 'daggy dresser' in high school.
But she always had a love of sewing, ever since the age of four. After leaving school, her hobby turned into a career. She worked for several years as a lace maker, before taking time off to care for her grandmother, and then later for her first child.
In that time she did two short patternmaking courses, which inspired her to return to study at Kangan Batman TAFE when her daughter was three years old. Now 28, Cindy has completed her Certificate III and IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Textiles, Clothing and Footwear.
Aside from the awards she has won from Kangan Batman TAFE, Cindy also won two high profile industry awards during her studies: the Textile Institute's National Student of the Year Award, and the Active Sportswear category of the Australian Wool Fashion Awards.
Her teachers attribute her success to her exuberance and passion for the industry, the impeccable standard of her work, and her outstanding teamwork and organisational skills.
Cindy is currently pursuing her goal of furthering her knowledge by working in different areas of the industry, gaining experience in patternmaking, garment construction and fashion parades. Ultimately she would like to start up her own label in a niche market.
Cindy is also receiving the Silver Medallion for Fashion Studies and the Outstanding Achievement Award for her course.
Adult Learner of the Year & Gold Medallion, Community, Youth & Health Group
Reside Gencer
Winner: Reside Gencer
When her youngest child started high school, Reside decided she wanted to start work outside of the home. She also wanted to achieve her dream of going to university, as she had left school early growing up in Turkey.
Having been in Australia for 28 years, Reside's English was good, but she felt she needed to improve her literacy before embarking on tertiary study.
In 2004, Reside returned to study in the Certificate III in General Education for Adults. Her teachers say she worked extremely hard with consistent application to complete the course in just two semesters - a great achievement for someone whose first language is not English.
Reside's dedication to her studies made her a role model to her classmates, her own children, and particularly to other women in the local Turkish community in which she is active.
Reside has now successfully applied to several universities to study social work and natural medicine, but has chosen to take up a place studying Chinese medicine.
Reside is also receiving the Silver Medallion for Language Studies and the Outstanding Achievement Award for the Certificate III in General Education for Adults.
Elders' Award for Outstanding Indigenous Student of the Year & Arnold Davis Scholarship
Fiona Krakouer
Winner: Fiona Krakouer
The winner of this award also receives the Arnold Davis Scholarship. Arnold Davis is an Elder of the local Indigenous Australian community who overcame adversity to excel in his studies at Kangan Batman TAFE. Arnold is a role model to Indigenous Australians, as is this year's award winner, Fiona Krakouer.
After many years looking after her children, and more recently her grandchildren, Fiona wanted to do something for herself. During her previous studies in Indigenous Health at Curtin University, Fiona had observed the positive effects of art classes on Koori mental health patients. This inspired her to enrol in the Certificate III in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and Design at Kangan Batman TAFE's Gunung-Willam-Balluk Learning Centre.
Although she had never tried art before, Fiona has excelled in the course and even exhibited her artworks. Fiona is popular with her fellow students and teachers alike. Her teachers describe her as a diligent, hardworking student who has become a role model for students within the Gunung-Willam-Balluk Learning Centre. Her positive, calm manner and willingness to share her knowledge of Aboriginal history has seen her become a respected community elder to whom younger students turn for advice and guidance. In addition to pursuing her art, Fiona's future goal is to do welfare work, possibly helping women who have been through the prison system.
Trainee of the Year Award
Cecille Weiss
Winner: Cecille Weiss
Today, she is her own woman, doing exactly what she wants to do. But that wasn't always the case for Trainee of the Year Cecille Weiss.
In high school, Cecille dreamed of going to university, but her family discouraged her, due to their belief that 'a woman's place is in the home'. After HSC, she worked briefly at Zamel's jewellers before bowing to family pressure to marry young.
It took 10 years for her to return to the workforce and to study. Today, Cecille is in a happy (second) marriage with two teenage children, a job she loves, and a swag of study achievements under her belt.
Cecille is back at Zamel's as a successful, award-winning Store Manager, and has also returned to study as an adult, completing the Certificate IV in Retail Management through the traineeship scheme. A major part of the course involves learning how to train staff and this has proven to be one of Cecille's talents. She is involved in the inhouse training program at Zamel's and has coached staff in her own and other stores to increase sales by focussing on customer service excellence. She is now completing the Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment and hopes later to get her Diploma of Education.
Cecille's teachers describe her as motivated, driven and energetic, with exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. For these reasons, Cecille has also won the Retail Silver Medallion (for best student in the Retail Training Centre) and the Outstanding Achievement Award for her course.
Further information about the Graduation and Awards Evenings
A further set of major awards will be presented at the 13 May event, which mainly focuses on students from trade areas such as automotive and industrial technologies.
Each Graduation and Awards Evening will attract an audience of around 800, including the students, their family and friends, and representatives from the many industry and community organisations who sponsor student awards. The events will both be compered by media personality, Jo Pearson.
Hume City Council is the major sponsor, and Broadmeadows Town Centre the supporting sponsor of the 1 April event.
Kangan Batman TAFE is a multi-discipline TAFE institute with 26,000 students across its seven campuses in Broadmeadows, Craigieburn, Moreland, Essendon, Coburg, Avondale Heights and Richmond.
