Para West Adult Campus and Maitland Area School - Parainsula Nungaz catch up with the Power in Maitland
The Parainsula Nungaz (Para West & Maitland teams) got together in Maitland to talk Power Cup, connection to country, goal setting and career aspirations with ex-Power players Byron 'Choppy' Pickett, Wade 'Bullet' Thompson and PAFC stars Amy Rogerson and Pauly Vandenbergh.
The Port Adelaide Football Club became the tour group operators this week, when they put their hand up to bus the Para West students and teachers to Maitland for their Aboriginal Power Cup (APC) visit, which was held on Thursday 19thMay 2011.
This was a fantastic opportunity for the 2 schools and Power staff to spend quality time together, which was important given the 2 schools have combined to form one team for the APC program for 2011. Their team name we thought was very creative and they will be known as the Parainsula Nungaz. Love it!!
The Parainsula Nungaz was visited by ex-Power players Byron ‘Choppy’ Pickett, Wade ‘Bullet’ Thompson, Amy Rogerson and Pauly Vandenbergh.
The PAFC players and staff introduced themselves and gave the students some background information on themselves and where they come from and the students were then asked to introduce themselves and tell us where they’re from.
Majority of the Maitland students had a connection with the Narungga people, who come from that area, including Point Pearce and surrounds. Two students from the group had a connection with Pauly, which he explained to them as to why this process is important.
We started the day as usual with our very competitive Ice Breaker game, that involves each student receiving a playing card and we time how fast they can get into number order. Ace through to King. Murray Bridge set the quickest time of the season with 8.60 seconds, but the enthusiasm of the Parainsula Nungaz was high and they came out and set a new record of 8.40 seconds. WOW!! Just when we thought it couldn’t get any quicker, the Nungaz with the Bundaz come up with that effort.
We then began discussing Goal Setting and Choppy, Bullet, Amy and Pauly all spoke about their goals and how important it is to have a Back-Up Plan, in case your first plan doesn’t work out. Young Joel Lawrie from Maitland High School displayed great initiative and stood out the front of the group to write on the white board the Parainsula Nungaz team goals for APC. They came up with some great team and individual goals.
We discussed Career Aspirations with the students and had some great discussion involving the teachers who were explaining to the students what their first job was. We wanted to show the students that sometimes you have to start somewhere in the workforce and slowly work your way up until you find the right job for you.
The students filled in the career aspirations form, with some students telling us what their interest were, which included;
- Building and Construction
- Park Ranger
- Fashion Designer
- Police
- Real Estate Agent
Pauly then discussed the P-Plate program and the life/work skills activities in the APC booklet and explained if the students were able to tick off all the boxes in that table, then we think they’re ready to enter into the workforce.
We finished our theory for the day and had some lunch. Thank you to Mrs McPharlin and Mr Paget and the Para West teachers for lunch.
We then headed to the school oval for some football drills and skills. Wade and Byron had the students undertaking some drills, which took some time getting used to, but the students picked up the drill really well and were super impressive. The students decided that they wanted to play a full game, which we think help gel the team together and allowed for them to know more about each others skills and abilities.
“Love doing what we’re doing with the Aboriginal Power Cup program and being able to work with Aboriginal students in schools to work towards their dreams and goals. I want to do this on a full time basis, as it is a dream job of mine”.
Wade Thompson
We would like to thank the students and teachers from Para West Adults Campus and Maitland Area School for their hospitality and we look forward to seeing you in June at the APC Carnival.
Good luck for the rest of the year.
