The Outreach program has run for many years at Eaglehawk Secondary College. Now they have renamed the building Connect, they have also moved location back onto the school grounds to have the building closer to the College communities.
Phalen Pezzelato is the organiser of the new program and says, “The program used to be very different last year and students had to be down the street in the shop front but now it has moved back to ESC”. Phalen is the wellbeing coordinator at ESC.
There have been some really good positives that came out of the program. Some kids did not feel too happy with the distractions in the classes they were in,
Phalen and all of the other staff that were working there wanted it to be more open to other students to learn. Having it up at the school gives them more opportunities to come in and out of their classes.
“We changed the name because we wanted to make it a bit more symbolic and when it was called the Outreach program we thought it was making it feel like our kids were disconnected.” We wanted the kids to feel more connected to the school to know they are a big part of ESC.
One student who attends Connect said, “It’s more easy for the kids to came out of the classroom and learn better. It’s a good sized room with some couches and it’s very easy for the kids to concentrate. Last year they were doing some programs down the street but this year they made the building. It’s helped a lot of kids with their education. The program is for kids with learning problems. They want to create a good learning environment. They run English and math classes.”
