What is a "Skills Auction"?

(From an article that appeared in the Tumut and Adelong Times)

1999 SKILLS AUCTION, 26 August 1999

Basil’s Restaurant at Tumut’s Valley View Motor Inn was the venue for "hands-on", real life experiences for Hospitality and Office students from Tumut High School last Thursday night.

The Skills Auction, run by the local Industry Advisory Group, provided an ideal opportunity for students to demonstrate the skills they have developed during their Vocational Education courses.

The theme for the night’s function was "Gone Troppo" and students joined in the fun of the night by dressing in sarongs and brightly coloured tops & wearing flowers in their hair. Basil’s Restaurant had been turned into a tropical paradise by the enthusiastic organising committee (with special assistance from Tumut’s Preschool children who painted many, many metres of paper for vine construction).

For several weeks prior to the auction Anna Cutler, Ann Linnegar, Dimity Bell, Rachel Job, Anna Lucas, Merrie How, Lola Bulkeley and Chris Horsley were hard at work planning for the evening, designing wall decorations, recruiting skill providers and generally overseeing the function.

One of the skills offered for auction was a two hour belly dancing lesson. Prior to this item being auctioned, two very brave students demonstrated the finer points of this style of dancing to the enthusiastic acclaim of guests. Their teacher, Dominique Elia, donated the skill for auction and spent several "out of class" hours training the girls for the demonstration.

Hospitality students worked long hours to prepare a tropical menu, cook and serve the meal under the guidance of Steve at Basil’s Restaurant at the Valley View Motor Inn, clear away tables and clean up at the end of the night. Guests at the auction were impressed with their professional approach to such an enormous task and congratulated them on the manner in which they accomplished that task. Under Steve’s expert tuition the students gained valuable experience and worthwhile training in their chosen field of Hospitality.

Two older students handled the drinks and provided extremely competent bar service throughout the evening. They worked well with the Hospitality students who were serving the meal, and demonstrated high levels of competency in those specific hospitality skills.

During the evening Office students were responsible for greeting guests, taking payments, recording winning bids, running a raffle and thanking guests as they left at the end of the evening. In the days leading up to the auction they had campaigned amongst local business houses to compile a substantial raffle, and during the evening they were responsible for selling tickets and distributing the prizes.

All the students cooperated extremely well with each other in a situation somewhat remote from their normal day to day activity. The real life situation took them out of the classroom, and guests for the evening were extremely complimentary about the appearance, attitude and competence of the students.

The Skills Auction was held as a fundraiser by the Industry Advisory Group, to further the Vocational Education program at Tumut High School. Many local business people and teachers at the school donated skills which were auctioned on the night and this combined with a very well supported raffle to raise a total of $10,800 on the night.

The highest bid for the evening came for a three day cultural experience and guided fishing tour of Aurukun country in Cape York, donated by Leigh Schelks from Cape York Alliance. The skill which brought the most enthusiastic response from the audience was a two hour belly dancing lesson which a couple of very brave students demonstrated prior to it being auctioned. But undoubtedly, the best contested skill was a trailer load of A Grade Certified organic compost which was eventually knocked down to Tumut High School Careers Adviser, Phil Shirt.

Outgoing IAG Chairperson, Doug Martin, received a special presentation in appreciation of the strong support he has provided for the Vocational Education Program at Tumut High School over many years.

Special thanks to Auctioneer Ian Archer who put up a fine performance as usual and made it easy for guests to get into the swing of the auction by providing an extremely entertaining sales pitch.

Many thanks to the multitude of people who generously donated skills, raffle prizes, spent their money on the night and assisted in numerous other ways.

Principal of Tumut High School, Jim McAlpine expressed sincere gratitude to the Industry Advisory Group Inc. for organising such a worthwhile fundraiser for the school’s Vocational Education Program. The Vocational Education office would like to hear from any local business willing to train students in the workplace as the program’s popularity shows signs of growing rapidly in the next few years. Businesses may contact the Vocational Education Office at the school on:
phone or fax 6947 3955.

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