“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change” – Jim Rohn
2019 was an enormous year for Dunlea Centre and also for Power House! The year began with the implementation of a new model of teaching social skills, which was a huge and challenging learning experience for both staff and students. It marked the beginning of a new era with a new vision for life-long behavioural change for the young people in our program. In a short space of time we saw great development in improved social skills displayed by them.
As well as these new changes, the Power team also experienced changes among staff and students. We began the year welcoming Kellee to the team who brought with her an array of amazing qualities, including passion, professionalism and positivity. Kellee’s impact on the young people and support for behavioural change has been huge and we are so thankful to continue to have her on the Power Team!
First Impressions
Throughout the year we have also been grateful to welcome new young people into the Power Team. When we asked some of these boys to reflect on their initial thoughts of their new experiences, they agreed that they were immediately welcomed into the program, had quickly made new friends and felt a sense of belonging.
The boys enjoyed a range of activities every day during recess and lunch breaks, such as basketball, soccer, NFL, cricket and tennis. These young people also commented on how much they have benefited from learning skills in personal hygiene and other everyday living skills including making and eating great food! In the classroom, the boys have appreciated a workspace that has encouraged them to be engaged and very focused in their learning. They gained confidence and showed consistent improvement all the time.
As well as welcoming new boys into the program this year, some boys continued on from the previous year. These boys continued to enjoy the activities and learning and took on the new model with much enthusiasm, which saw great benefits.
Highlights
We asked some of the other new boys about the biggest highlights for them in 2019.
Brendon said, “I really liked how we got to have a professional cricket player come to school and teach us how to play cricket properly and to learn how to play with all the rules. I really liked how we got to play the Oz Tag tournament and spend the day playing sport, the thing I love the most. I also really liked how we got to go on excursions to the Barilla Pasta place and got to cook proper Italian pasta with an Italian pasta chef.”
Cooper said, “Power in 2019 was epic! The whole program was a success for me in 2019. I lost weight, learnt some new skills and overall had great fun. Camp was at Seven Mile Beach. We enjoyed the Trees Adventure and loved building sand castles. We also went to North Nowra for pizza and pasta. Loved camp with the crew and look forward to a successful 2020.”
Work Experience
Part of our program in 2019 included some of the young people attending work experience. Alessandro spoke about this, saying, “This year I did work experience. I chose to do mechanic work because most of my family members are mechanics and I actually wanted to try being a mechanic. It was very hard work and was a great experience”.
Program Reflection
Adem, one of our veteran boys reflected on his program experience in 2019 as a whole, saying, “Dunlea Centre is different to other schools because here we have smaller classes and more help and assistance from the teachers and staff. They have helped me concentrate more in class and get the grades I am capable of achieving. My biggest challenge when coming to Dunlea was leaving all my friends and family to commit here 5 days a week but once I started I realised that everyone will treat you like family”.
Overall, 2019 was a greatly successful year for Power House. We congratulate all the boys on their achievements, trust that everyone had safe and happy holidays and look forward to another big year next year.
