The Gupta family’s sponsorship of the Port Adelaide Football Club continues to bring benefits to the local Whyalla community, with a group of local high school students recently partcipating in Port’s Community Youth Program, the POWER of STEM.
The Power Community Youth Program is an initiative of the South Australian Government and the Port Adelaide Football Club and was established in 1999 as the first educational in-schools program administered by an AFL club.
Port Adelaide Football Club players, support team, and female athletes from a variety of sports promote messages on healthy lifestyles and respect, along with lessons on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) linking in with the South Australian School Curriculum.
According to James Lindsay, Port Adelaide Football Club’s Commercial General Manager: “With GFG’s support we engaged over 30,000 students per year with classroom sessions designed to educate youth on healthy decisions across diet, education, exercise and STEM and provide tangible examples of career prospects relevant to their futures. All contributing to building sustainable industries and stronger communities.”
It’s also exactly what Sanjeev had in mind when the Gupta family chose to sponsor the Port Adelaide Football Club – wanting to partner with like-minded organisations that understood the importance of investing in community, and especially in its kids.
Our very own Workforce Development Manager, Bianca Standing, joined the workshops in Whyalla and said: “It was great to be able to talk to students about the range of future job opportunities that are available through STEM subjects, and to see their curiosity and engagement through the questions they were asking about their subjects and how they provide the foundation for their future.”
Spending time both in and outside of the classroom, the students had the opportunity to meet and hear from sporting role models, and health and nutrition experts.
It was another incredible day, and hopefully the experience and the lessons will stay with the students for many years to come.