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Mindshop Excellence News - August 2008 Equipping Young Adults for Life Mindshop Excellence Facilitator, Sarah Hopwood conducted Mindshop Excellence, Problem-Solving and Life Balance/Goal Setting workshops in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, UK. The workshops took place in April for several small groups of 17-20 year old students. Sarah wrote, “Nervously the students arrive ready to spend 3 hours unpacking their thoughts and dreams and learn problem-solving tools giving them a clearer vision of their future and their goals. Once seated I invited each person up to write their name on the flipchart and say something about themselves such as the course they are on, exams they are about to sit or where they were going for lunch after the session. Grasping the importance of Now, WHERE and How is not always easy as the scope for WHERE is often unwittingly limited – stretching the mind is a real tease and yet crucial to the How process. The students progressed through the manual working as a group and in pairs – discussing their thought processes, comparing figures and identifying similar issues. Magic Wand revealed some awesome pictures and the decision matrix, a great cerebral challenge, greater considered thought. As always, the forcefield challenged everyone’s thinking and yet produced actions never previously associated with the subject - achieving desired results. To finish they set their goals. By now much of the work was done so the focus and detail on their one page plan was well orientated around their lives, dreams and aspirations!” Student testimonials include the following. “This has been very beneficial for me. It has given me the skills to help make some difficult decisions. Gap year versus uni ! Thank you.” “This has been a useful way of stopping and thinking about what I can do, as often I think it is hard to be able to put aside time just to think.” “I feel I am now more able to identify positive things in situations I believe d to be bad or useless.” “I feel more positive about myself and that things are meant for a reason. I believe that the knowledge and info I have been given today will help me through my life and maybe even help others.” “The course has been very useful because it has shown me more ways to assess my options, the way I’m working and also how to solve problems.” “An important day which I hope will help me to rectify my ongoing problems with time management and motivation. When I go through the manual in greater detail I think I will benefit even further.” “This course has helped me focus on problems and also set clear targets from which to work.” Australia Bendigo Train the Trainer Program Six people from organizations including Bendigo Bank, Bendigo Community Telco, BRIT, and La Trobe University underwent intensive training in Bendigo Tuesday 1 st July, to prepare as assistants for several Excellence programs to be run in the area in late July. They represent the organizations that will host the programs and will be on site when the students work within the organizations. The Train the Trainer day was facilitated by Michael Burke and he was assisted by John Tabone and Julie Mason. The day was funded by the Bendigo Community Telco.
Wantirna College Students Hosted by World Vision A group of 6 students from Wantirna College spent their Excellence week at the World Vision headquarters in Burwood, Victoria. The issue that the students were given to solve was to form the plans for the campaign ‘Don’t Trade Lives: Knox’; linked to the recently launched World Vision program: ‘Don’t Trade Lives’. Their Facilitator, Barry Jenner taught them the Mindshop tools and processes that enabled them to tackle their problem during the week. The team leader, Shanae wrote; “So the idea of ‘Don’t Trade Lives: Knox’ is exactly as the name suggests: to assist with the ‘Don’t Trade Lives’ program and also specialize the campaign for the individual city of Knox. We were asked to involve the youth of schools and churches, the Knox council, MPs of the city and basically as many other people as possible so as to put Knox on the map as the first community campaign of its kind and to contribute to the hopeful end of Human Trafficking and Slavery in many years to come.” To help the students understand more about 3 rd world countries, poverty and also to mix a bit of fun in our week, the group took part in a Simulation Poverty Game that reminded them all somewhat of a large monopoly game in 3D. Shanae commented that “Another event that we as a group were involved in was the presentation made by Susu Thatun, a wonderful and passionate advocate for World Vision who has dealt with Human Trafficking and Slavery first hand. Susu gave us so much insight as to how and why Human Trafficking happens. It was a great experience and the group was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to hear Susu Thatun talk.” The students were asked to give their presentation again back at school and they were supported by the Vice-Chairman of Vision Generation, World Vision's Youth Movement in Victoria, Chris Varney.
Alexandra Secondary College Hosted by Outdoor Education The Outdoor Education Group (OEG) is an independent not-for-profit organization founded in 1984 and specializes in adventure based outdoor experiential learning programs. OEG’s mission is to play a proactive role in preparing young people for the personal, social and environmental challenges in their lives. Based in the beautiful countryside of Alexandra, 6 students from the local Alexandra Secondary College considered themselves lucky enough to be hosted by OEG in such an idyllic location. Tara Carter from OEG spoke to the students about their challenge for the week “Here at the Outdoor Education Group we are enlisting your expertise and services in an advisory role regarding recruitment. Since moving our focus in 2008 to recruitment we are looking for direction and a recruitment proposal, including direct and indirect options.” Mike Burke and Cameron Geddes traveled from Melbourne to assist Ron Jungalawalla as Facilitators for the group. Chris and Julie Mason were delighted to be invited as guests at the student presentation on Friday.
Alexandra Secondary College - Outdoor Education Students put their Information Technology skills to work in Bendigo Business leaders from around Bendigo met recently to discuss how they can encourage students to take a more positive view of the IT industry in the region. It was decided to engage students from 5 local schools and 5 local industries to combine with the Mindshop Excellence program. These programs were coordinated by John Tabone, teacher at Catholic College Bendigo and Mindshop Educational Trust Board member. The 30 students involved were the stars at the Excellence presentations in Bendigo last week. Their investigations and research over their week’s work experience uncovered outstanding strategies to alleviate the declining appeal among students in Bendigo of IT career pathways. Students announced at the presentation that Mindshop Excellence "Rocks!" The formal presentation late afternoon in town was attended by a crowd of 200 or so enthusiastic, students, schools, family members, and representatives of local industry and there were lots of accolades for all involved. The Bendigo Community Telco and the IT consortium were delighted with the outcomes, the results potentially having a huge positive impact on the business community in the future. Many thanks to Facilitators during the week – John Tabone, Chris Mason, Robert Pridham, Emily Mason, Harry Kras, Tennille Daniel, Pat Horan, Vaibhav Bagaria, Sallie Lamb and Ben Free.
United Kingdom Sandwell Academy students Hosted by Allied Bakeries in the UK A small group of students from Sandwell Academy in UK were asked to base their project around ideas to improve employee involvement in the marketing of products at their host, Allied Bakeries. The company employs over 500 people and is the biggest employer in West Bromwich. The students did a great job of addressing all aspects of their issue including fostering better communication between departments and Allied Bakeries were delighted with the outcomes. Congratulations to Johnathan Dudley and Mike Hall for the Facilitation of their first Excellence program.
For further information on the Mindshop Excellence or to discuss running a program in your region please contact: Julie Mason (jemason@mindshop.com)
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