2007 Monthly VCE Achiever Winner

August: Renato Manias

When Renato Manias and his family immigrated to Australia from Brazil, his focus was mainly on learning English and, later, settling in as a boarder at Ballarat Grammar School.

But Renato soon realised that he was not content with devoting his time purely to his studies and school life.

During Year 9, as part of a program which required him to do 20 hours of community service activities, he began volunteering at the St Vincent de Paul opportunity shop opposite his school. But he began to enjoy the companionship and camaraderie of working at the shop so much that he decided to continue volunteering there. Four years later the 20 hours have turned into more than 500 hours and has helped earn him the VCE Achiever Award for August.

Renato’s work at the shop has included serving customers, sorting the stock and moving the furniture and other heavy objects on display. Last year, when the manager was ill, he acted as co-manager of the store for six months.

Despite the pressures of VCE studies, he continues to volunteer one or two Saturdays per month, this time at the Salvation Army store in Wendouree.

‘It is good to be helping the community, but for me the biggest benefi t is the experience of getting to know the people I work with,’ explains Renato.

‘Even though many of the other volunteers at the shop are three or even four times my own age, I have formed some great friendships with them outside of my volunteering. I enjoy sharing stories with them and they have taught me so much about life.’

Renato is also a School Guardian (prefect) at his school, with particular responsibility for activities to promote international democracy, including fundraising activities for Amnesty International, the 40 Hour Famine and schools in Africa.

A highlight this year came when, as co-convener of his school’s Round Square activities, he helped organise a week of events devoted to East Timor, raising awareness and funds for community projects there. The band the Dili All-Stars played a concert at the school, and as a Portuguese-speaker Renato had the role of hosting and translating for the band during their visit.

Being a prefect means that Renato is often asked to speak at school assemblies, a prospect that daunted him at first. But his confidence has grown to the extent that he now regularly makes speeches on topics ranging from bullying to Aboriginal reconciliation.

Having had the experience of learning English as a second language himself, Renato was keen to be involved in tutoring other students. He is arranging for students to travel to Melbourne once a month to attend the Edmund Rice Refugee Centre and tutor Sudanese refugees in English an activity he did himself throughout Year 11.

‘You have to be patient because some of the students have only very basic English, but some of them are very keen so you are able to help them learn. Then there were others who were just excited to know that I come from Brazil and wanted me to play soccer with them!’

When his VCE is over, Renato plans to continue his international experiences next year, by travelling to Spain to learn Spanish there. He also hopes to study economics at the Australian National University. He knows his community service experiences will have helped him achieve his career goals, by helping him to remain focused and positive.

‘Working with disadvantaged people means you no longer take for granted just how lucky we all are. The things I have learned from volunteering especially at the opportunity shops have been like doing an extra school subject for free.’

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		2007 Monthly VCE Achiever Winner August: Renato Manias When Renato Manias and his family immigrated to Australia from Brazil, his focus was mainly on learning English and, later, settling in as a boarder at Ballarat Grammar School. But Renato soon realised that he was not content with devoting his time purely to his studies and school life. During Year 9, as part of a program which required him to do 20 hours of community service activities, he began volunteering at the St Vincent de Paul opportunity shop opposite his school. But he began to enjoy the companionship and camaraderie of working at the shop so much that he decided to continue volunteering there. Four years later the 20 hours have turned into more than 500 hours and has helped earn him the VCE Achiever Award for August. Renato’s work at the shop has included serving customers, sorting the stock and moving the furniture and other heavy objects on display. Last year, when the manager was ill, he acted as co-manager of the store for six months. Despite the pressures of VCE studies, he continues to volunteer one or two Saturdays per month, this time at the Salvation Army store in Wendouree. ‘It is good to be helping the community, but for me the biggest benefi t is the experience of getting to know the people I work with,’ explains Renato. ‘Even though many of the other volunteers at the shop are three or even four times my own age, I have formed some great friendships with them outside of my volunteering. I enjoy sharing stories with them and they have taught me so much about life.’ Renato is also a School Guardian (prefect) at his school, with particular responsibility for activities to promote international democracy, including fundraising activities for Amnesty International, the 40 Hour Famine and schools in Africa. A highlight this year came when, as co-convener of his school’s Round Square activities, he helped organise a week of events devoted to East Timor, raising awareness and funds for community projects there. The band the Dili All-Stars played a concert at the school, and as a Portuguese-speaker Renato had the role of hosting and translating for the band during their visit. Being a prefect means that Renato is often asked to speak at school assemblies, a prospect that daunted him at first. But his confidence has grown to the extent that he now regularly makes speeches on topics ranging from bullying to Aboriginal reconciliation. Having had the experience of learning English as a second language himself, Renato was keen to be involved in tutoring other students. He is arranging for students to travel to Melbourne once a month to attend the Edmund Rice Refugee Centre and tutor Sudanese refugees in English an activity he did himself throughout Year 11. ‘You have to be patient because some of the students have only very basic English, but some of them are very keen so you are able to help them learn. Then there were others who were just excited to know that I come from Brazil and wanted me to play soccer with them!’ When his VCE is over, Renato plans to continue his international experiences next year, by travelling to Spain to learn Spanish there. He also hopes to study economics at the Australian National University. He knows his community service experiences will have helped him achieve his career goals, by helping him to remain focused and positive. ‘Working with disadvantaged people means you no longer take for granted just how lucky we all are. The things I have learned from volunteering especially at the opportunity shops have been like doing an extra school subject for free.’
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