By Marcus Uhe
The 4C’s Cultural Showcase came alive at Bunjil Place on Monday 5 September with a stage show spectacular in the Bunjil Theatre and an art exhibit in the library.
The VCAL program for students in select schools and community groups in the South East forms part of the Personal Development Skills curriculum, with students required to pitch, organise, liaise with stakeholders and work in teams to bring the event together.
Two students with their artwork displayed in the library are Cranbourne East Secondary College students Tevita F and Kiara T.
Kiara, an Aboriginal woman from the Warra Warra tribe in New South Wales, produced a dot-painting with 3000 individual dots representing the connection of cultures across the community.
“You’ve got the pink that represents the breast cancer community, orange and yellow which is childhood abuse awareness, the rainbow for the LGBTQIA+ community, and purple for epilepsy sufferers,” she said.
“It’s bringing all the communities together, making them one. Even though we have a small layer of skin connecting us, we are all connected through blood.
“You’ve got the dots in the different communities coming together, and then the bloodline leading to the centre, which is everyone coming together, with all the colours combining into one.
“It makes me proud, showing my Aboriginal culture.”
Tevita, who has Tongan, Fijian and Polynesian heritage, produced a Haerenga Kava Bowl made from Australian redwood.
The wood was deliberately chosen as a method of merging his background with Australian culture.
For Tevita, the bowl represents his personal growth as he navigates through life.
“It’s all about discovering new ways of my journey, a journey of having challenges in my life,” he said.
“That’s why as you can see, it doesn’t really have any patterns, but that’s because I’m still discovering and implementing ways to add to it afterward it’s finished at Bunjil Place.”
As one of the directors of the stage show, he played a significant part in the 4C’s program and has enjoyed his time as a leader.
“It’s really great and I’m really proud to represent my culture and my ideas to the world and to Australia,” he said.
“It’s been a journey of discovery and challenge and it’s been great.”
At 6 o’clock, friends, family and fellow students filled the Bunjil Theatre for the sold-out stage show.
Cranbourne East Secondary College students opened the performance, followed by schools including Alkira Secondary College, Hampton Park Secondary College, St Peter’s College, Oriana Dance Academy and Unschooling in the South East.
A captivated audience was treated to vibrant colours, sights and sounds of traditional music, dance and fashion, unique to different student groups’ culture.
Personal Development Skills teacher at Cranbourne East, Bernadette Simpkin spoke glowingly of her students.
“They’ve been doing this for nine weeks and they’ve done an awesome job, and I’m immensely proud of them,” she said
“They’ve had their moments, we’ve had to pull a couple of groups in for some mediation to see how they work through their issues, but they’ve done such a great job, and I think now, they finally get to see what it’s all about, and I’m hoping that they’re as proud tonight as what I am.”
She said she expects the program to greatly enhance their employment prospects once they graduate.
“The way I pitched it to my students was, you will put together a digital portfolio and you’ll have evidence of all these things, so when an employer says to you next year, can you minute-take, can you work in a group, can you be independent, my students actually have evidence and proof that they can actually do it. They’re not just talking the talk, they’re walking the walk as well.”
Speaking backstage ahead of the stage show on Monday night, Applied Learning Leader at Cranbourne East, Sawsan Hassan, echoed Ms Simpkin’s sentiments.
“I’m in awe of what the students have been able to produce,” she said.
“I had belief in their ability from the beginning but they’ve really excelled and blown my expectations out of the water.”
Tickets for Monday’s 12 September’s performance are available at bunjilplace.com.au/events/4c’s-cultural-showcase
