An Armadale high school student has donated two bicycles to charity after his school gave him a chance to strip down and repair unloved bikes in his own workshop.
John Wollaston Anglican Community School student Jordy Collins, 16, is in year 11 and a member of the school’s Learning Enrichment Centre, which supports students who perform best outside of mainstream classrooms.
After discovering Jordy was passionate about bicycle repair earlier this year the school took an extra step to support his passion by supplying him with his own workshop.
A sea container, which was converted to include the facilities necessary for bicycle repair, was delivered to the school six months ago and nearly every week since Jordy has been enthusiastically repairing bicycles for about an hour a school day since.
So far he has since given new life to six bikes and on November 15 two of those were donated to Anglicare for delivery to families in Perth through the Kinship Connections WA Indigenous Australian support program.
Anglicare WA schools officer Kelly Keall said she was thrilled to receive the bikes.
“They were absolutely amazing,” she said.
“I can’t believe a year 11 student was able to create and restore those bikes, they look brand new.
“There’s going to be two very lucky children receiving the bikes just after Christmas.”
Jordy’s work on the bikes was documented and contributed to a portfolio of work, which goes toward his overall school grade.
However Jordy said the work was more than just about developing a portfolio and now he has an idea of what kind of work he wants to get into after he finishes high school.
“Before we started this I didn’t know what to do,” he said.
“I was still trying to find out what I liked and what I didn’t like.
“Now I’m thinking of doing a job through this.”
About 30 per cent of John Wollaston Anglican Community school students require learning support according to principal Anne Ford who said the school had been working hard to identify ways to provide alternative learning opportunities for students like Jordy.
“For teenagers who often can’t access the curriculum projects like this are not just about what they do with their hands, they grow so much in independence and confidence and learn life skills,” she said.
The school planned to keep the workshop on its campus long-term offering other students the chance to learn about bicycle repair with Jordy’s support next year.
