Kevin Sheedy dishes out 'nuggets' of advice at TAFE Taster day
2 September 2005
Kevin Sheedy speaks to a packed house in Kangan Batman TAFE's auditorium
It was a dream come true for the 100 secondary school students who attended a ‘TAFE Tasters’ day at Kangan Batman TAFE.
The students, from the Hume and Whittlesea region, were treated to a motivational talk by long-time Essendon Football Club Coach, Mr Kevin Sheedy.
The Hume Whittlesea LLEN developed the idea to introduce local young people to the diversity of industry through their ‘Kick Start’ program.
The event was held on Tuesday 30 August at the Broadmeadows campus and was combined with the Institute’s TAFE Taster program as part of the TAFE Week activities.
It was the first time that Kangan Batman TAFE, with funding from OTTE, and the Hume Whittlesea LLEN have hosted such an event, with the aim of giving year 10 and 11 students a ‘taste’ of future career possibilities.
Among the range of activities on the day, there were a series of hands-on workshops, guest speakers, and tours of the campus.
Some of the workshops included: customer service in retail, construction of a toolbox in cabinet-making, an introduction to travel and tourism operations, and an introduction to aviation engineering. Students were also given the option of creating an animated cartoon, use cranes, forklifts, wrapping equipment and ropes as part of the logistics program and discover the flexibility of plastic engineering in polymer.
But the real highlight of the day was Mr Sheedy’s motivational speech.
In his presentation to the young people, Mr Sheedy dished out what he called were his ‘nuggets’ of advice. He told the students that planning was the key to success, and urged them to keep diaries – apparently Mr Sheedy has over 35 years’ worth of diaries at home!
Mr Sheedy challenged the students to think about what they really wanted to achieve, and said while it was important to keep the options open, they should have an overall plan and that is should be written down.
When asked about his proudest moments, Mr Sheedy surprised everyone by saying, ‘Nothing beats being a father – four times over.’
Then he said the premiership games were of course a highlight of his career. Mr Sheedy also highlighted the importance of indigenous players in football, in particular, his passion for organising the ‘Dream Time at the G’ game between Essendon and Richmond.
Kangan Batman TAFE’s Post Compulsory Education Pathways Manager, Peter Harrison, said these activities are a great way for students to try out different things to see what really interests them.
‘Flexible options need to be available for young people to give them first hand experiences of the world of work,’ he said.
‘Being able to hear directly from employers, such as QANTAS, from representatives from Transport Industry Driver Education, and people like Kevin Sheedy, really inspires students to plan their future more carefully.
Because of the success of this event, the Hume Whittlesea LLEN and Kangan Batman TAFE hope to work together on future events to promote the employment opportunities in the local area.
