Glenala State High School take the lead in Future Anything
QMI Solutions and the Gateway to Industry Schools Program for Advanced Manufacturing has been the proud sponsor of this year’s Glenala State High School’s, ‘Future Anything’ program.
Future Anything aims that transforms young people’s passion and curiosity into innovative ideas aiming to make their world a better place. Designed by educators, programs are customised to suit different schools and student needs. The program encourages young and passionate entrepreneurs to take their ideas out of the classroom and into the real world.
This guest post has been kindly written by Amanda Wildie, Senior Experienced teacher at Glenala State High School.
Wednesday 19 June saw the three, Year 9 & 10 Economics and Business classes, at Glenala State High School pitch their ideas for a better world in the Future Anything Showcase.
The program ran for 10 weeks and included the opportunity for students to attend the Future Fest at Brisbane City Hall. Future Fest included a number of guest speakers who have started their own social enterprises and shared their experience of these. They were able to provide valuable insight as to the effort required to start up an enterprise and the pitfalls to watch out for.
By the time of the Showcase the students demonstrated an increased capacity to work in teams and problem-solve. They needed to be innovative, undertake research and consider their value proposition — what made their idea different to that which already exists.
The skillset will see students well prepared to take on the challenges of employment in the 21st Century.
Ultimately, 24 unique social enterprises were revealed to the public in the Trade Show and Shark Tank. The students, despite their nerves, made sure they stood up and were counted. Feedback included comments such as:
“The event at the Great Hall was very cool because it helped our team to speak to strangers and present our idea to them.”
“This experience was very joyous and interesting even though we didn’t win.”
“It is an eye opener and gave me an insight into the entrepreneurial world.”
“They said they liked the idea which felt good especially having social anxiety myself. It kind of didn’t hold me as I felt really engaged and overall I enjoyed it.”
A huge congratulations to Glenala State High School students who then made it to the National Shark Tank Finals in October!
Glenala State High School is the Gateway hub for Vehicle Manufacturing & Engineering. Resilience, emotional intellegence and design thinking are three of the top skills required by the advancing manufacturing sector. Our thanks to the Glenala students, teachers and the vehicle manufacturing section for supporting this initiative.