TEACHERS facing the daily challenge of keeping students’ eyelids open might faint in disbelief if they heard about Cassandra Plunkett and Courtney Day.
The Werribee students, both 17, love the environment at Wyndham Community & Education Centre, where they’re completing the ‘hands-on’ Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.
The course covers literacy, maths, information technology, work-related skills and personal development.
Cassandra and Courtney have been awarded $1500 Anne Mitchell scholarships, which, they say, will only add fuel to their fire.
“What I want to look forward to in the future is getting as much education and do as many courses as possible,” Courtney said.
“We’re both looking forward to conservation and land management, to maybe get a job as park ranger.
“We’re both really into the environment and we’re both passionate about climate change.
“We want to make a change for the future and make a good future for our great-grandkids.”
Living in Werribee in a single-parent family with her mother, Courtney said the scholarship, on top of her fortnightly welfare payments, would make life a
little easier.
Mainstream schooling in Point Cook wasn’t a good fit for Courtney, and like many Victorian students she feels more at home in the VCAL program.
“At my old school, I didn’t like the learning environment, teachers wouldn’t help you as much and I felt like I was going to drop out,” she says.
“It’s more of an open, adult learning environment here.
“For me, this school helps so much and makes me realise how important school is and how I want to succeed in the future.”
