Mount Gambier High School (MGHS) Entrepreneurial Educator Jess Magarey has been selected as a finalist for the Entrepreneurial Educator Award as part of the 2022 Teens in Business Awards.

The award acknowledges an educator who is championing entrepreneurial education and seeks to recognise educators who are having an impact in their school but also on other teachers, nearby schools, or their community.

The Teens in Business Awards started last year and is a joint initiative by Young Change Agents and BOP Industries.

Mount Gambier High School Entrepreneurial Education Assistant Principal Josh Pralini nominated Ms Magarey for the award, which she was thankful for.

“I was pretty shocked when I got the email to say I was a finalist,” she said.

“It was just really nice to know that Josh had nominated me in the first place and then to actually be a finalist was quite special and affirming of the work I have been doing for the past three years.”

A week after she was nominated Ms Magarey attended a virtual Teens in Business Awards ceremony where each nominee had to present a pitch about what they were doing and why they should win before the winners were selected and announced.

The joint winners of the Entrepreneurial Educator Award were Nicole Amey from Kepnock State Highschool in Bundaberg, Queensland and Kim Flintoff from Peter Carnley Anglican Community School in Perth, Western Australia.

Ms Magarey said the calibre of the other educators was incredible.

“Everyone in the category is doing amazing things within their own schools, communities and spaces,” she said.

“It is such a new area so it can be quite isolating, but it is nice to know there is a big community out there who are doing similar things and other educators who are walking the same path.

“Hearing some of the other teachers talk about what they are doing and getting some ideas from them has definelty given me the drive to keep going in this space.”

MGHS are no stranger to the Teens in Business Awards as last year Year 9 MGHS students Harry, Montana, Jasmine and Shelby won the Intrapreneur of the Year award with their Benefit Education Enterprise (B.E.E).

B.E.E is a program based on student agency in education and working with teachers to implement a more student driven learning approach.

Ms Magarey designs and runs the MGHS entrepreneurial program which includes special entrepreneurial subjects in years 10-12 and the middle school homegroup program with a strong entrepreneurial focus which runs from years 7-9.

Ms Magarey said the MGHS entrepreneurial program had a strong focus on wellbeing.

“Once they have a strong sense of self then they are in a much better position to help others and understand their impact in the wider community,” she said.

“We decided and noticed early on that we were in a really unique position where we could combine wellbeing with our entrepreneurial program.

“All our programs have that strong understanding of self-first, and understanding strengths, values and purpose within yourself and then turning out to other people.

“I think that has been a bit of a point of difference for us and it has definelty been an area where we have seen a lot of growth within our students.”

Mount Gambier High School is one of five Entrepreneurial Specialist Schools (ESS) in South Australia, delivering learning programs that will promote and encourage entrepreneurial mindsets in students.

There are three city Entrepreneurial Specialist Schools located within Adelaide which are Heathfield High School, Seaton High School and Banksia Park International High School.

Mount Gambier High School is the most regional of the dedicated schools followed by Murray Bridge High School.

Ms Magarey said being the most regional Entrepreneurial Specialist School in South Australia had definitely had its challenges.

“Obviously the city schools are able to work really closely together because of their proximity to each other,” she said.

“What some of the other schools have done is incredible and we have definitely learnt a lot from each other along the way.

“We have kind of used that as a bit of a badge of honour, in terms of how regional we are and the fact that our students have still been able to be so successful in the learning and it has been in a completely different context to the city schools.

“I think it just puts us in an even more unique position and means that our successes are able to be celebrated by more than just our school, because if we can do it down here, then any school down here can do it as well.”

Ms Magarey said the school was hoping to take a more regional focus next year and teach other schools in the region entrepreneurial education.

“I think part of what the Entrepreneurial Education Schools model was designed to do, was to empower one site and then move onto other sites as we go,” she said.

“I think where we are at is sharing what we have been able to do and how we can empower other sites to do it as well.

“Obviously we are going to have things that work and things that do not, so it is definitely about identifying what is going to work for those schools as well.

“We established very early on we were going to need a wellbeing focus but other schools might not necessarily need that.”