Monday 2 November 2015

Joshua Adkin "Mighty Mouse"

I have been really busy this year trying to focus on year 12, working, going to school, going to Tafe and also going to camps. I am still working at the Kununurra Visitor Centre every Monday and the Kununurra Community Resource Centre every Tuesday as part of my work placement. I have now finished both of my certificate II in agriculture and business.

Last term we all packed our bags and headed off on our last agriculture camp to Gibb River Station we were gone for two weeks from the 27th of July to the 7th of August, when we got out to Gibb we were straight into work and our first project was to build a fence around the shop to keep the dogs out of the yard. We also did some more cattle work while we were there teaching the year 11’s de-horning, castrating and ear tagging. We also did a killer again while we were out there, while we were out there we attended one of the elders funeral who unfortunately passed away, it was a beautiful service and she will be dearly missed by many as she was such an inspirational person to everyone out at Gibb River Station and beyond. We again went to Galvan’s George where we spent most of the day and then to mount Barnett roadhouse to buy overly priced food and drinks. We also went camping out at flat rock for 3 nights which was good because we were next to water and it was good to get away from Gibb for a weekend. On the last day we all packed up and was ready to leave when I found out that we were taking one of the of the community members Kevin, Kev had a pet dog a Gibb who never left his side Cinder, and I will never forget when Kev got in the car and as we drove of Cinder and 2 other dogs ran as fast as they could to follow our car all the way down the road as they slowly disappeared into the cloud of dust from our car.    

Last term the year 12’s started abseiling as their last outdoor education activity, we started by learning some of the knots we need to know to be able to abseil, after that we started our first abseil although it was on a boab tree here at school it was still a great learning experience and we all learnt a lot of skills needed to abseil.  Our first proper abseil was down Kelly’s knob it was so much fun we all really enjoyed it also and again learnt a lot of new skills needed, from there we did elephant rock 2 at different heights, after that it was time for us to do the biggest abseil we would do, elephant rock. Elephant rock is 70 meters high and it was the most fun abseil we have done, both I and Alex did it both normally and running down facing forwards. After we had successfully completed black rock, we were ready to go on our abseiling camp; we were gone for 3 days up the Ord River at Cooliman creek camp. We did a wide range of activities like bush walking, abseiling but the thing I enjoyed most on this camp would have been the flying fox we made across the river although I was the only one who hit the know at the end because I wasn’t heavy enough the get to the water It was still really enjoyable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
The last two year of school has been the greatest 2 years of my life so far. I have made great lifelong friends who will always be close to my heart. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at work and school. I have learnt so much at both work and school i am so thankfully to have amazing network of teachers, bosses/mentors and friends. I would like to thank my managers; Nadia, Kris and Vivian at the Kununurra visitors centre for letting me come into your business to grow and learn, and thank you to my manager at the Kununurra CRC Natika, for allowing me to be a part of the CRC family and teaching me so much about computer and web designing and also helping me with my grammar. I never would have thought that i would be given the chance to be able to be a part of the KEFL program. To be able to do all these amazing things like mountain bike riding, canoeing /kayaking and abseiling. To be able to graduate school with my cert II in Business and cert II in Agriculture. I would also like to thanks my biggest supporter throughout this whole experience Mrs Audas. Without you I definately would not be where I am today.   

My plans for the future is hopefully to go a theatre school and extend my skills in acting so I can one day become a high payed actor, I would like to also excel a career in teaching if I don’t wish to continue my acting, I also plan on doing some part time or fully time work after I finish school and traveling over Europe and America.


Catch you around … like a ringworm! Josh Adkin J






Thursday 29 October 2015

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater!

How you all goin… this is my last blog for the year and ever!!!

On our last agriculture camp to Gibb River Station we completed lots of fun, tough and exciting jobs. On the way out to the station, Michael’s car conked and we had to leave it at Ellenbrae overnight. Myself and Riley along with Cam and Michael went to retrieve and fix the vehicle the next day and found out that there was water in the fuel tank. We finished off the fence around the gravel pit that we started on our last camp, as well as making several gates around the pit for easy access. We also put the horses in the yard each day so we could do ground work, get them used to people again so the community mob could ride and take care of them properly. The KEFL crew also helped Warwick build a timber and wire fence around the new grocery shop; this was to help keep the community dogs out of the area as well as make the shop visually pleasing. This was a pretty tough job, and we needed all help on deck to get it done, before the funeral that was to take place on the middle weekend of our stay. Last time we were at Gibb there was a bad accident that resulted in the death of one of Ngallagunda’s elders. The crew helped cook and prepare loads of food for around 500 people who had travelled from all over to farewell Mukka. I attended the funeral with a few other year 12 KEFL students, Audas and Michael.

Because of the influx of people at Gibb Station we moved out to a camping spot called Flat Rock. This allowed us to swim and relax and visit some scared spots, it was nice to have running water for a couple of nights. During the second week we fed and watered the cattle that were in the yards, and made sure they were getting looked after. We ended letting a whole lot of young cattle out of the yards as no one was at the station to care for the cattle, and it would have been cruel to keep them in the yard. The mechanical crew went out to one of the bores in black soil paddock as it wasn’t working, this took a long time to fix and we ended having to get the entire crew out there to pull the bore hose up, fix the power cord and fill the tanks. I personally have had a large number of rewarding experiences out at Ngallagunda over the last two years. Particular highlights of my agriculture training include – working with cattle, cleaning up and fixing up the mechanical workshop and visiting amazing water holes and gorges around the area. A big thank you to Clyde and Linette Russ and the Ngallagunda crew for allowing us to come to your home and help out, it has been an amazing couple of years. Also to Michael Jeffery I have one final joke for you – I was at the local atm when old man Michael Jeffery came up to me and asked me to check his balance … so I pushed him over. Thanks for being a great Ag lecturer and putting up with all of us.            

During second semester we have been doing an abseiling course for Outdoor Education. Our instructor for this is Maka from Go Wild Adventure tours. We completed a variety of abseils from different cliff heights this included:
·         Kelly’s Knob – 10m practice run
·         Sleeping Buddha – 15m
·         Sleeping Buddha foot – 45m
·         Black Rock – 75m

Our two night’s expedition saw the crew going up the river to Carlton Gorge. We stayed at Coolamon Creek camp. On the way up we stopped up the spillway and completed our first assessment a bush walk around a cliff. We had to work as a team to navigate around a large raised area and make it back to the boat. We found a pretty awesome water system that during the wet would provide an awesome swimming location. We then went to camp set up our gear and had lunch. After lunch we went on another bushwalk behind Coolamon Creek camp, this was an amazing experience as Maka does not usually take anyone to this special spots. We found natural springs with flowing waterfalls and we enjoyed swimming in both locations. It was pretty tricky navigating our way back to the boat, but overall it was definitely and challenging and rewarding experience.

The next day we went up to Carlton Gorge to set up our Flying Fox and Abseiling challenge. The flying fox required a lot of team work to create a tensile line; we set up a pulley system to make sure the line was tight enough and put a stopper knot so we wouldn’t hit the rocks. Josh Adkin was the first to jump from the 35m cliff for the flying fox, due to his light weight he hit the stopper knot full pelt which resulted in him getting slung back and spinning through the air – this was a pretty funny and memorable moment. I eventually had a go – and once was enough for me. I also abseiled down the cliff face and unhooked in the water, this was pretty cool and due to it being so hot it allowed us to swim and cool off. On the last day we completed another 50m cliff abseil and jumped off Jump Rock. It has been so great getting to know Maka over the last two years, and completing all of these activities that you wouldn’t get to do if you weren’t in the KEFL program.

My highlights for the last two years in KEFL include:
  • Working at Vanderfield’s Kununurra Toyota and getting paid. I really enjoyed working there and learning practical based mechanical skills that are going to help me with my future career. Thanks to all the crew at Toyota for supporting me and I hope to see you all around the place. I also need to thank Natasha Cross from KGT for finding me this placement and supporting me over the two years
  • Graduating from school with my WACE Certificate – I am the first person in my family to graduate!
  •  All the Agriculture and Outdoor Ed camps have been a hoot.

So What Now…. I have applied for an apprenticeship at Argyle Diamond Mine as a heavy diesel mechanic. I am looking forward to starting my apprenticeship and earning money, going to Melbourne with Clontarf for my end of year trip and my graduation ceremony on the 26th November.      

I still have two more people to thank one is Cam Jackson from the Clontarf foundation for putting up with me since year 8. For having my back even when I was in the wrong which was all the time - I guess that’s why you have got no hair now - but yeah thanks for the crazy five years and I look forward to catching up with you.

And finally… thanks to Tarryn Audas AKA “Just Jimmy” for cooking me biggest mob feeds, pestering me to complete all my school work and making me stay after hours. Also for generally caring about me and my schooling and identifying my strengths and how I learn so I could graduate from school. But also for being an all-around Jimmy – top bloke.


Well I’m out – see you around the cattle trail! Peter Davies J









Justina Howard

Hi guys its Tina here. Just letting you all know that this will be my last blog entry for the year. I will be giving you an update on all the exciting things we’ve been up to since my last blog entry. We have been on our last two week Agriculture trip to Gibb River Station and recently completed our Abseiling camp at Carlton Gorge and Coolomon Creek.

Our Agriculture Camp at Gibb River Station from the 27th of July to the 7th of August. During this time we did fencing, which included finishing our fence around a gravel pit, building functional gates for the muster and building a fence around the community shop to keep the dogs out. We also looked after the cattle that were in the yards, ensuring they had plenty of water and feed. The KEFL crew helped built a wooden fence around the new shop, this was to stop the dogs from entering the area, and we built a fence around the gravel pit to stop animals from injuring themselves in that area.

During our time out at Gibb we spent time with the new horses, making sure we did all the ground work, to get them used to people so the community could use them for work. We helped the local community members get ready for Mukka’s funeral by cleaning up the community and preparing food. During this sad time we made sure everything was under control and that the food was sorted for the day. We got to camp out at Flat Rock a scared site and enjoy the running water and tranquility of the place. As our two week camp was coming to an end we slowly packed up our gear and said our goodbyes to the community, we have put in a huge amount of work at the station over the past few years, and it was great to see the end result. My time going out on our camps has been a tough journey for me. I learnt things that I never knew before, like fencing and all things safety, especially how to handle myself and others around cattle in the yards. I want to thank Michael Jeffery and the Gibb River Station mob for a great two years of training.

On the 16th, 17th and 18th of September, all of the year 12s, Audas and Maka went on our last Outdoor Ed camp up at Coolomon Creek Camp ran by Maka, our instructor. We travelled out to camp in Crocodilly (Maka’s crocodile shaped boat) on Wednesday morning. We stopped off at the Spillway and decided to complete a bush walking challenge, our aim was to navigate around a series of hills and make it back to the boat. At this time we didn’t have any maps so we made our own route, making decisions based on the landscape and landforms we sited. We found a pretty impressive creek bed (dry) and followed that all the way back to the river – during the wet there would be some pretty impressive swimming spots at this location. This was a pretty challenging activity, but was also rewarding and fun. We arrived at camp and had lunch. Maka decided to take us on another Bush Walk to a very special location. We headed up a creek that was right next to our camp, this is where we made our own route to find a beautiful swimming spot, which consisted of a waterfall and waterhole that is all year flowing. This bush walk was a privilege for us as Maka doesn’t really talk people up there.

The next day we headed up the river in Crocodilly to build our flying fox across Carlton Gorge. The flying fox was about 160m long and we created it using a pulley system, this took a massive team effort to achieve the tensile required to hold the weight of us students. I didn’t have a go of the flying fox because I was scared, standing on the edge of a 35m cliff was intense and I decided not to do it. Later that day I did the abseil off a 30m small cliff into the water, this was a different experience as we had to unclip in the water and swim to the boat. The day was spent out on the lake abseiling, doing the flying fox and swimming, I really enjoyed myself. On our last day we did a 55m abseil off Carlton Gorge. After this abseil we went back to camp to pack up to get ready to go back into town. On the way back in we stopped at Jump Rock and I was super proud that I jumped with Audas, even though I was scared and screamed the whole way down. It has been so much fun and such a challenge over the past two years in Outdoor Education, I want to thank Maka and Audas for all the experiences, and I will treasure these memories.

What I loved about KEFL over the past two years was going out on Outdoor Education and Agriculture camps and completing my School Based Traineeship at the Ewin Centre. When I graduate from school I will be employed full time at the Ewin Centre where I will complete my certificate III in child services. In the future I would like to do more study and hopefully attend University and study Early Childhood Education. Achieving my goals in getting full time employment after school was a big highlight for me and graduating school with my WACE.

I would like to thank Natasha Cross for her support with my traineeship and helping me get employment with The Ewin Early Learning Centre. I also would like to thank Michael and Maka for their ongoing support on our outdoor activities, thank you for allowing us to go on these adventures and experience new things. A big big thank you to Miss Audas, she has done an amazing job with her support and teaching towards us, thank you for putting up with everything and always being there for me and being the best teacher she could be.


Until next time… Justina x



Graduating Class of 2015!!!

From Captain JIMMY -

Last week; 8 KEFL year 12 students graduated from school - I am immensely proud of all the things these crazy kids have achieved over the past two years. You have made my job not a job really but an every day pleasure - Thank You for being the best bunch of kids a teacher could ask for. You all have a special place in my heart and I am sure I will be seeing you all flourish and thrive in the workplace. Here are my tips for my graduating students:

1. Make your bed every morning
2. Find someone to help you paddle
3. Measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers!
4. Keep moving forward - know that life isn't always fair
5. You will likely fail often - failing is natural and part of life - learn from these mistakes
6. Hit obstacles head first
7. Don't back down from bullies - out smart them
8. Step up when times are tough
9. Start singing loudly when you are up to your neck in mud
10. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Love you guys tremendously -  I am only a phone call away :)

JIMMY x

Student blog entries to follow soon... stay tuned





Wednesday 10 June 2015

A Tribute to Mukka!

It is with the greatest sadness that I write this tribute to one of the most amazing Aboriginal ladies I have ever met...  you accepted me and my students into your home at Ngallagunda Community without hesitation. You spoke highly of educating the youth and giving back to the community - your vision was to see the station "buzzing" and full of life - I hope that we can make this happen for you.

Our special union was not one of racism and hate but of LOVE and INSPIRATION. "We walk along side each other every day." You taught me that it is not the colour of one's skin that is important - it is who we are inside and what they do with our life. I will miss our morning tea breaks and chats, but I promise you that I will check in on your people when I can. I will miss you and hope that you will watch over all of us. Thank you for your life lessons and allowing me insight into your amazing culture and life.

Love Tarryn Audas


Thank you for accepting us into your community and being a role model to us. Your kind nature has rubbed off onto your grand children and they are a constant pleasure to have around. You are an inspirational women - and I hope your legacy is carried on by your people. I'll never forget you and what you stand for. 

Love Kerri Searle 


Thank you for showing us the way, for sharing your culture with us and allowing us to stay on your land. We will miss you...

Love the KEFL Class

Monday 2 March 2015

Riley Piccirilli

Hi my name is Riley Piccirilli I am 16 years old I have a mum, dad, an older annoying sister and 2 dogs.

I chose KEFL because I want to do my traineeship in heavy diesel mechanics, I want to do my traineeship at Coates hire because they have a huge range of machinery and I am doing a Certificate II in Automotive at TAFE. When I finish school I want to work on an oil rig or on a mine site. I want to get a high B or A in math and English and improve more on it and I want to get an A in outdoor Ed as well.

I’m not really looking forward to having to eat cow testicals and then having to check a cow is pregnant. But besides that I am really looking forward to getting my Certificate II in Agriculture.

I am really looking forward to all the camps, the canoeing and working on the station and the mountain bike riding and working with all the cattle and riding the horses.

When I finish school (if my traineeship goes well) I would be looking forward to starting my life properly and hopefully getting a job on an oil rig or at a mine and work there for a few years and hopefully if I get the job I’d save up for a while and travel the world (mainly Europe). But the whole KEFL program will be a great experience.


Riley

Evander Mitchelson

Hi everyone my name is Evander and I was born in Derby Western Australia on the first on January 1999. But I have called Kununurra home since I can remember.

I want to be in the KEFL program because It will give me the opportunity to catch up on school work I have missed out on in the past year, also the opportunity to complete a certificate II in Building and Construction and a certificate II in Agriculture.

By the time I have finished my two years of KEFL and graduated year 12, I would like to either get an apprenticeship in construction or leave for Perth and start my own business as a carpenter.

It is obvious everyone wants to do well in their school subjects and aim for the highest possible grade, my goal is to just make sure I don’t end up with my grades averaging below a C focusing more on Maths and English. To achieve my goal I have to focus more on class work and bring my homework in on due date.

My goal for Outdoor Ed is to do my best at every challenge I am given. What I am looking forward to is going on camp and learning survival and life skills. What I am really looking forward to is going through all these new experiences like canoeing, and station work with my mates and also making new mates and memories along the way. The one thing I am most looking forward to is getting onto a horse for the first time and learning the ways of riding. The only thing I am not looking forward to would be, being in the heat all day.  


Evander J