Boys to the Bush

2023 School mentoring program - day 3

Industry Visit – Riverina Stockfeeds - Young 

At 10:00 am we attended Riverina Stockfeeds in Young for a pre-arranged visit and tour of the facility. Riverina Stockfeeds is a large mill that manufactures a quality range of stock feeds in Young and the Riverina region. We met with the general manager of the facility, Nick Hall. All the boys were good and introduced themselves to Nick with a handshake. The boys were provided with a safety helmet and reflective vest to keep them visible and safe during the tour. Nick started off by explaining the various types of employment opportunities available at the mill and how it operates. Importantly, Nick explained, the values of the type of people they seek to employ at the mill. Nick went onto explain that being a respectful, hardworking, punctual team-player were all qualities that Riverina Stockfeeds valued in their employees. Nick then gave us a tour of the mill and showed us how stock feed is made from the moment the products come in on the truck, through to manufacturing and packaging. 

Wonga dam

After a big morning at Riverina Stockfeeds, the boys assisted Boro and I with some food shopping for our BBQ lunch. Then we returned to the shed to load the trailer with kayaks and equipment. The boys had been wanting to go kayaking so we took them out to Wonga dam where we put up the shade shelter and put sunscreen on. The boys were all instructed to put life jackets on before entering the water. They all then enjoyed some kayaking, fishing, and also yabbying from the edge of the dam. There is a little island in the centre of the dam which you can stand on and all the boys went out to the Island and had a play before exploring the rest of the dam. 

For lunch Boro and I cooked up a BBQ. For most of the day, the boys were well behaved and showed respect towards each other. Toward the end of the day at the dam, a few of the boys needed to be spoken with about their actions, behaviour, and showing respect. On the way back to Boorowa Central School the boys thanked us for a good day and apologised that some of their behaviour was not the best. It was good to see that they were able to recognise this was the case. The boys were dropped back to Boorowa Central School at 3:20 pm. Over the next two weeks we will continue to work with the boys in relation to respectful behaviour and not involving themselves in matters when it is not required.