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With Smart Work Gateway, you can work from anywhere UNITY COLLEGE KEEPING BEES BUSY Young entrepreneurs are getting a head-start on their future at Unity College.
The school’s innovative ComUnity Co-op is drawing in students from study fields as varied as business, hospitality, graphic design, and the sciences, with every one of them gaining real-life skills and experience while working together to operate the College Milhut – a shipping container that has been transformed into a successful café business.
I have really been watching these students grow in their confidence and knowledge. Every aspect of the day-to-day running of the business is carried out by the students, under the supervision of Andra Clark. Nutrition students have developed the Fitter Faster Stronger program to design healthy breakfasts and snacks to make and sell at the café and hospitality students have worked with Caloundra coffee guru Tim Adams and muesli queen Alli Shambrook of Allies Fit Food to learn how to prepare their products for sale at the Milhut.
the other Bee Sweet food products and the Bee Happy merchandise the business students have ordered in. Graphic design students are responsible for the product’s lively packaging and the team put their collective minds together to create brands for each section of the co-op.
be a very popular item for students, staff and parents,” she says.
Unity College Business School leader Gillian Meyers says they drew on the school’s Celtic roots and named the honey batches after the season they were harvested in. One of their most successful was the Oiteag, which means Summer Blossoms, and Milhut, the name of the café, means Spring Blossoms.
Ms Meyers says all money made from the venture will go back into the program to continue to expand it and allow more students to get involved.
One of their most popular products, the Buzz-On surf wax, was created through a desire to minimise waste by utilising the capping from the honey. Ms Meyers says the students mix the honey wax with secret ingredients, which they came up with after some trial and error, to create an organic surf wax that causes no harm to the ocean.
Business students are rostered on every shift at the café to oversee operations and sales and a dedicated team of students from Year 4 all the way up to Year 12 tend to the school’s 15 European honey bee hives located at the back of the campus.
They can never quite meet the demand as this has come to be a very popular item.
The honey they harvest is used in the breakfast muesli bowls and other treats on offer, as well as sold as a retail item alongside
“They made 50 bars in their first run and they sold out so quickly. They can never quite meet the strong demand as this has come to
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The Milhut officially opened in October last year and since then, has made enough money to recoup all the start-up costs apart from the customisation of the container.
The school has had a long-standing relationship with East Coast TAFE that allows students to gain a Certificate II and III in business while in Years 11 and 12, but now Ms Meyers says the co-op allows them to leave high school ready to start their own businesses. “The skills they are learning are transferrable from one industry to another and we are trying to give them a realistic run on how things operate,” she says. “It’s one thing to learn in a classroom and another thing to have to think on your feet and overcome challenges as they arise in real time. It engages them into look at what they need to do differently and not just regurgitating something from a book. It makes them adaptable and able to think on their feet.” Ms Meyers says the students had taken ownership of the space and not only enjoyed working in it, but looking at other ways the
venue can be used to connect with their peers, teachers, and parents. The Milhut is the base for Thumpin Thursdays, where live music is played by students for others to enjoy on the grassed area, and many teachers have moved their morning meetings to the shade of the umbrellas on the Milhut deck to enjoy a beverage before classes start. And this is only the beginning, with Ms Meyers determined the school will continue to find innovative ways to expand the business as funds allow. “I
It makes them adaptable and able to think on their feet. have really been watching these students grow in their confidence and knowledge of customer relations and service. They are so passionate about their product and they can easily communicate this to their customers. Particularly the Year 12s, who really hand in designing this and getting it up and running, they feel like they own this, it’s theirs and they love it,” she says. The co-op is already linked to successful local businesses and Ms Meyers says they welcome others who would like to connect with the program to teach skills to students or sell their products through the Milhut.
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To find out more, email gmeyers@bne.catholic.edu.au or contact 5490 5777. To see what's happening at Unity College, visit: facebook.com/unitycollegecaloundra
Call us on +61 7 5451 7333 or go to www.fxbcsc.com.au
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