Laverton together delivers a better place to live
When Henry Szukata joined Laverton Secondary College as Principal he was struck by the students’ lack of pride and the school’s sense of isolation from the community.
Graffiti in the area shouted out from the walls, with terms such as “Lavo povo” reflecting the students’ feelings. The community garden Henry tried to establish had its plants and greenhouse vandalised not once, but twice. And the school was deserted after hours.
Now, the situation couldn’t be more different.
A unique project called Laverton Together was designed to make Laverton a better place to work and live and it’s proving to be a great success. Early results are showing less graffiti, less vandalism and more people getting involved and working together.
The Laverton Together Project Action Group includes representatives of Laverton Police Station, Hobson’s Bay Council, Laverton Community Centre, Around Laverton Community Newspaper, local service agencies and residents.
Henry is also Deputy Chair of the Laverton Together Project Action Group. He said the change in the community since the project started has been enormous.
“Our college used to be covered in graffiti – now, you don’t see any graffiti because the students have got pride in their school and their community. It’s really changed the feel of the whole school.
“The school is about to set up a community garden again. This time, we’re getting the community involved and inviting them to use the gardens any time – whether school’s in or not.”
“It’s part of our work to really integrate the school into the community,” Mr Szkuta said.
Laverton Secondary College now opens up its building and facilities so they can be used by local community organisations.
Already the local Phillipino group are using the gymnasium for dancing activities.
“It’s perfect for them because while they have their own centre, they simply didn’t have a space large enough for dancing. Our gym is the right size so it makes sense to let them use it when the students aren’t,” Henry said.
“Residents actually asked if we could move our monthly meetings to the evenings. We did, and now we get at least 35 residents attending.
“Some of these people who have been living in Laverton for more than 30 years and others have only just moved here.
“It sums up the success of the project really: more people involved, sharing ideas and resources, and really caring about Laverton.”
The State Government provided $240,000 funding to Hobson’s Bay Council for the Laverton Together Project in 2002.
Read more about the Community Support Grants – Strengthening Communities
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