General News
1 September, 2022
MEC alumni success noted in international report
An international report on the benefits of alumni programs on educators, which included research from Maryborough Education Centre, has highlighted something the local school is already seeing on the ground — a morale boost for teachers and...
An international report on the benefits of alumni programs on educators, which included research from Maryborough Education Centre, has highlighted something the local school is already seeing on the ground — a morale boost for teachers and inspiration for current students.
The recent Positive Outlooks, Stronger Community Ties report studies the impact of alumni network programs on teachers in secondary schools, surveying schools in Australia, Kenya, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.
Alumni is the term for former students of a particular school and in 2020 MEC signed up with Ourschool, a not-for-profit alumni program which helps state secondary schools in Australia build alumni networks.
Already finding success with the program, MEC’s experience was used in the Positive Outlooks report which surveyed 71 teachers and principals.
Ninety percent of those said alumni networks made them feel more positive about their role as an educator.
The survey also found 93 percent of educators said the networks gave them access to inspirational role models for their students, 91 percent said it fostered a stronger sense of community within the school, and 80 percent said it keeps them up-to-date with their understanding of jobs and workforce trends for students.
The trend is something MEC is already seeing, according to the school’s alumni program co-ordinator Shelleen Solomano.
“We like to get former students back that have done really great and inspiring things and give talks to our current students,” she said.
“The response we usually get from alumnis is that they’d love to be involved.
“I asked a former student recently what his best experience at school was, and his reply was the support of the teachers who wanted him to succeed. That’s great for our teachers to hear — they’ll know they taught him and had that impact, it’s a morale booster.
“It’s also great for us to know what our students have gone on to do. They inspire me too.”
MEC assistant principal 7-12 Ben Brady said the school joined up with Ourschool to fill a gap and that it opens a “world of possibilities”.
“We felt we were missing a strong alumni here. There’s a lot of kids who’ve come out of the school and done great things and they want to contribute back to the current students and share their experiences,” he said.
“The students can then hear that and realise what is possible for themselves, whether it is sporting achievements, apprenticeships, university or self-starters.
“It just opens up a world of possibilities and having the alumni program enables us to have strong links to the outside world.”
As the Positive Outlooks report found, Mr Brady said having alumni back at the school is also important for teachers.
“For teachers to be able to hear from those alumni, it underpins what they’re doing here,” he said.
“You can tell your students what is possible, but when you can bring someone in with the experience it really backs it up.
“It strengthens your belief in what we’re doing as a school and you can feed that back to the students.”
Former students of MEC — or any of its foundations schools — interested in participating or learning more can contact Shelleen on alumni@mec.vic.edu.au or by searching for Maryborough Education Centre Alumni on Facebook.