Kepnock State High School teacher Nicole Amey has been named a joint winner of the Australian Entrepreneurial Educator of the Year Award at the Teens in Business awards.
The award acknowledges an educator who is championing entrepreneurial education and having an impact in their school but also on other teachers, nearby schools, or their community.
Nicole said she was nominated for the award by a colleague and was looking forward to the opportunities that she now had after being announced a joint winner.
“To win the Australian Entrepreneurial Educator of the Year Award is positive recognition and achievement for the hard graft and drive that has been a focus for the last three years at Kepnock State High School,” Nicole said.
“It has taken extensive networking to build creative entrepreneurial learning pathways which has been done with the assistance of local and national industry, partnerships with Young Change Agents and the Ingenium Award with alumni Jamie Olsen and the commitment of excellent educators in our team.
“Winning the Entrepreneurial Educator Award will provide a scholarship to attend E3 again in 2024 as well as the opportunity to forge stronger collaborations with individuals in the entrepreneurial space.
“In 2022, I attended E3 Unconference in Adelaide with 40 entrepreneurial educators across Australia and presented on building an ecosystem in your community.”
Nicole said the award was not only a recognition for her work personally, but an award for the work being done throughout the region.
“This award is an acknowledgement personally but also for our school and region,” she said.
“I invite educators and industry to collaborate to strengthen the partnerships across schools and community to further leverage opportunities to build a coherent culture that integrates social enterprise with entrepreneurial education.
“We can provide the opportunities for our ‘raw regional talent’ to empower our emerging leaders with the toolkit to transform outcomes for societal change.”
Moving forward, Nicole said she would continue her work in the space and collaborate with others in the industry.
“I will continue to advocate and drive youth innovation,” she said.
“I am passionate about developing entrepreneurial mindsets and believe that voice of youth is the catalyst in driving change in our modern landscape.
“I enjoy the collaborations and learning with educators at our school, in our local community and at a national and global scale and transferring these skills to leverage creative learning and voice for our youths.
“Daily interactions and forging relationships with families, community and educators is pivotal in my role and I truly enjoy the shared ethos of empowering our youths to succeed.
“Entrepreneurial education is an important mindset as it is about developing our students' ability to create social, cultural, or economic value.”
Find out more about the award here.
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