Interwork Client Wins National Apprentice Award
Interwork client, Selena Milligan, 18, has won the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) Australian School-Based Apprentice of the Year.
Year 12 high school student Selena won the award based on her outstanding achievements at school and on-the-job as a part-time apprentice chef at the Clare Hotel in the Barossa, South Australia.
Selena came to Interwork two years ago with depression and an acute lack of confidence as a result of bullying at school, which obstructed her learning and school studies.
She and her parents have worked together with Interwork staff based at the Clare office to develop her personal and employment skills to create career opportunities for the future through Interwork’s disability employment program.
Interwork Employment Coordinator Tricia Rex, says Selena has transformed from an acutely shy teenager to a confident young achiever during her two years as an Interwork client.
“We’re extremely proud of Selena’s commitment to the DEN program and what she’s achieved in such a short period of time is amazing. She now holds a Certificate 1 in Kitchen Operations and a Certificate 2 in Commercial Cookery for which she’s now working towards a Certificate 3.”
Now in the final stages of an apprenticeship at the Clare Hotel, Selena works an average of 15 hours a week while completing her Year 12 studies at her new school, Horizon Christian School in Balaclava.
The sky is the limit for Selena who says she’s very confident about her future. “I’d really like to travel when I’ve finished my studies and one day own my own restaurant in the country somewhere, maybe near Clare,” she says.
In the meantime, she says she is content to concentrate on developing her professional skills to achieve her travel and career ambitions.
“I’ve just spent some of the $2,000 prize money on some professional tools of the trade, but I am thinking of getting a little something to spoil myself!”
Selena with Clare Hotel employers Santo & Deb Scaglione
Posted on Monday, October 01, 2007
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