north east regional extra | October 14 - 20, 2020
nemedia.com.au
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October 14 - 20, 2020
Luke’s love of regional education shines WANGARATTA born and raised Luke Surace is excited to bring his education program, The Academy, back to his roots next year. Currently operating in Essendon and Geelong, but set to come to Wangaratta in February 2021, The Academy is a full-time education program that provides an alternative to standard year 11 and 12 schooling with a contextualised curriculum that is centred on AFL. The Academy’s curriculum is based off the VCAL system, while also including a certificate three and sport and recreation program and is co-directed by ex-AFL player Alex Rance. Co-director Luke Surace spoke to the Wangaratta Chronicle about his journey to creating this program and why it’s important for local communities. “My background is education; I worked at Wangaratta GOTAFE and started my career there in the design department where I grew in interest in learning models and design,” he said. “I was recognised and approached to work on a government project in Melbourne, where I further developed my skills and interest in those learning models and how people learn, which was then rolled out across Tafes in Melbourne. “I started a company in the retail/fashion sector where we would go in and design learning for staff; at that point I’d been friends with Alex for a long time. “About three years ago he thought about retiring and we were on a trip from the states when he said he’d miss the mentorship from other players and this was when talk of mental health issues was popping up in the AFL space. “It seemed early draftees’ physically prepared for AFL environment but not mentally prepared.”
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