Community Colleges Australia has announced the winners of the 2020 Community Education Student of the Year Awards, in a virtual Zoom event that took place on 25 November and involved about 120 people at more than 20 locations along the east coast of Australia.
The Winners are:
- Kristal Barlow, Atwea College, Newcastle, who studied Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) and Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) – view her acceptance speech here; and
- Ayva Steel, Tamworth Community College, who studied both Certificate III in Business and Certificate IV in Business.
The “Highly Commended” Awards went to:
- Olivia Wales, Macarthur Community College in Western Sydney, who studied Certificate III in Business Administration Medical; and
- Theresa Mapusua, Youth Development Foundation, Brisbane, who studied Certificate I in Business through the Skilling Queenslanders for Work.
Other finalists who were honoured at the Awards were:
- Polly Berry, Byron Region Community College, who studied Certificate III in Horticulture;
- Teressa Leigh Gass, Community College Northern Inland, Inverell, who studied Certificate III in Individual Support, specialising in Ageing;
- Kirsty Cottrell, Riverina Community College, Wagga, who studied Certificate III in Hairdressing; and
- Rocio Caraballo, nominated by VERTO, Bathurst, who studied Certificate IV in Business through a 12-month Aboriginal Traineeship Program.
CCA also presented a special Certificate of Merit to the family of the late Rebecca Hilton, Western Riverina Community College, who studied Certificate III in Individual Support. (View full details of all Winners and Finalists here.)
View the full Awards on YouTube here (39’14”).
Introductory welcomes were provided by the Hon Dr Geoff Lee MP, NSW Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education – view his welcome here; and the Hon Steve Irons MP, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeships (Commonwealth) – view his welcome here.
The Awards were hosted by CCA’s CEO, Dr Don Perlgut. The awards were presented by Austin Whitehead, Training Sector Governance and Improvement, NSW Department of Education, on behalf of the NSW Government, which sponsored this year’s Awards. The judging panel consisted of Vanessa Iles, Manager of the Reading Writing Hotline, and Gordon Amann, former CEO & Principal of Coffs Coast Community College.
This was the fourth year that CCA ran the Community Education Student of the Year Awards; previous year’s winners are available here.
