Back when I was in high school, I was pretty chuffed to knock out a timber pencil case and a stool in Mr Harvey’s woodwork class.
But these days it seems, students get to sink their teeth into much more challenging projects, like the full caravan rebuild recently completed by VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) students at Victoria’s Salesian College.
Since April the male students, many who hope to work in a trade like plumbing or carpentry, have been beavering away, three days a week, on the ‘bare metal’ rebuild of a 1988 Evernew pop-top caravan.
The finished product was proudly displayed at this week’s Melbourne Leisurefest at Sandown Racecourse, with showgoers able to enter a raffle to win the van valued at $15,000.
The student project was backed by The Caravan Industry Association of Victoria (CIA Vic) and the National Caravan Industry Training College.
Starting out as “solid but shabby”, the retro delight dubbed ‘VCALcitrant’ is fitted with mod cons including a microwave, slide-out kitchen, air-conditioner and electric caravan mover.
All up, more than 20 CIA Vic members donated goods, including a caravan guttering system from Northern RV Services, Primal 15-inch alloy wheels, a Truma hot water service from Dometic, and checkerplate cladding from Hume.
Proceeds from the raffle will help support the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
One of the Salesian students Kevin O’Malley, admitted there were “a few challenges during the renovation, but once we started receiving resources from our amazing sponsors, the class started to feel more hopeful that the caravan would actually come together.
“We want to thank (the CIA) for taking a chance on us and giving us the opportunity to take part in such an incredible project, and also for the generous donation of the tools and the caravan. They have equipped us with skills that we will take with us into our jobs post 2016,” he said.