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We recently held a JTSucceed employment workshop for more than 300 years 10 students at Trinity Bay State High School in Cairns to encourage them to take ownership of their career options and what they want to do with their lives.

The program is proudly sponsored by Johnson Controls, in conjunction with JT Academy’s major employment partner Lendlease.

Designed with industry consultation, the JTSucceed workshops are a great opportunity for students to learn and gain insight into employment opportunities.

JT Academy Managing Director Johnathan Thurston said an integral element of the workshops is to empower young Australians.

“A big part of the workshops is to let them know that whether it’s getting that job, degree, or passing that exam if you have self-belief, courage, and confidence, you are the difference to achieving your dreams,” JT Academy Managing Director Johnathan Thurston said.

“We truly believe that the more empowered young people feel to pursue their own choices for their lives, the better.

“We want young Australians to believe in themselves and have the confidence and courage to make good choices, like turning up to school every day.  This makes the world of difference when it comes to pursuing the job of their dreams and feeling like they have a choice when it comes to their career path.”

Clint Clark, Branch Manager at Johnson Controls said the company saw its work with JT Academy as an important opportunity to assist young Australians into meaningful employment.

“We are incredibly proud to partner with this program and support the goal of help building confidence, courage, and self-belief in young adults to help them understand their value and aspirations with future employment opportunities,” Mr. Clark said.

“The feedback from the students at Trinity Bay was amazing and I’m looking forward to delivering this further in other schools.”

The JTSucceed program workshop will be offered free to schools and will be open to students in Years 9-12.

Workshop topics include self-belief, courage and confidence, goals, dreams, ambition, behavior, and attitude, how to find a job (where to start, personal branding, getting a job, interview preparation, and practice), industry options in addition to inspiration pieces.

Schools are invited to contact the team at m.parr@jtacademy.com.au or 07 3102 3309 to register for the free program.

A new Deadly Choices jersey was launched at Marsden State High School last week, with the program officially launched at Djarragun College in August by JT Academy Managing Director Johnathan Thurston. A key part of the JTConnect program encourages the youth of Logan to believe in yourself and have the courage and confidence and pursue employment.

The JTConnect program is an initiative of the Johnathan Thurston Academy, sponsored by the Deadly Choices’ Indigenous health campaign, and is designed to empower young people to believe in themselves and be the difference. Students who complete the JTConnect program and are up to date with their 715 Health Check through their participating community-controlled health service will receive a JTConnect Deadly Choices jersey.

“I’m excited about the new Deadly Choices jersey collaboration with the JT Academy and JTConnect – the program has already visited a number of high schools around Cairns and Logan,” Thurston said.  “We truly believe that by instilling a strong sense of self-belief, confidence and courage will empower young people to pursue a career or a job for a better life.

“We want kids to believe in themselves and have the confidence and courage to make good choices, like turning up to school every day.  This makes the world of difference when it comes to pursuing the job of their dreams and feeling like they have a choice when it comes to their career path.

“It makes me incredibly sad when I see the lack of self-belief, confidence, and courage among our youth. It’s what drives me and the team at the JT Academy to work with our nation’s youth to make a difference, one step at a time.

“In everything we do, we aim to inspire our youth to feel proud and strong with their identity and who they are as individuals and this program will go a long way towards this goal.”

The Deadly Choices and JT Academy jersey collaboration celebrate the JTConnect program launched in Cairns in August – which has already been delivered to over 200 young people across the state. The JTConnect program is free to schools and is open to students aged 15 years and over. Trained facilitators work with young people improving their confidence, courage, and self-belief and inspiring Australia’s next generation to pursue the employment and career options which spark their interest.

Program Partner Deadly Choices was established by the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) 10 years ago. IUIH CEO Adrian Carson said the JTConnect partnership is built around sharing values with the JT Academy including building confidence, courage, and self-belief.

“JT is a hero and a legend to many in Australia and the JT Academy programs and resources directly link in with our Deadly Choices strategy of empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make healthy choices and shape their work future through training and employment pathways,” Adrian said.

“We are proud to partner with this program and support the goal of help building confidence, courage, and self-belief in young adults to help them understand their value and aspirations with future employment opportunities.

“There is clear evidence of the link between health, education, and employment outcomes and so working alongside JT Academy as a JTConnect Program Partner is helping us to connect with our young people to increase engagement and to facilitate aspiration to deadly careers pathways.”

At various JTConnect workshops, Deadly Choices will also run their Good Quick Tukka program and provide some great initiatives to encourage regular health checks.

The JTConnect program is running over the next 12 months and will see the team visit several schools in the Cairns and Logan regions.

Schools within the Logan and Cairns areas are invited to contact Rhi Parsons or the team at jtconnect@jtacdemy.com.au to register for the free program – vacancies available in 2021.

Johnathan Thurston surprises students in Cairns with a visit
Our Managing Director surprised school students in Cairns last week when he turned up to launch his new program JTConnect.

The JTConnect program is an initiative of the Johnathan Thurston Academy, sponsored by Deadly Choices Indigenous health campaign, and is designed to empower young people to take ownership of their career options and what they want to do with their lives.

“I was very excited about the launch of JTConnect, which will see us visiting a number of high schools around Cairns and Logan over the next year,” Thurston said.  “We truly believe that the more empowered young people feel to pursue their own choices for their lives, the better. This is encouraged by instilling a strong sense of self-belief, confidence, and courage that they can pursue a career or a job of their choice.

“We want kids to believe in themselves and have the confidence and courage to make good choices, like turning up to school every day.  This makes the world of difference when it comes to pursuing the job of their dreams and feeling like they have a choice when it comes to their career path.

“It makes me incredibly sad when I see the lack of self-belief, confidence, and courage among our youth. It’s what drives me and the team at the JT Academy to work with our nation’s youth to make a difference, one step at a time.

“In everything we do, we aim to inspire our youth to feel proud and strong with their identity and who they are as individuals and this program will go a long way towards this goal.”

The JTConnect program will be offered free to schools and will be open to students aged 15 years and over. Trained facilitators will deliver school-based and online virtual activities aimed at improving their confidence, courage, and self-belief and inspiring Australia’s next generation to pursue the employment and career options which spark their interest.

Program Partner Deadly Choices was established by the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) 10 years ago. IUIH CEO Adrian Carson said the JTConnect partnership is built around sharing values with the JT Academy including building confidence, courage, and self-belief.

“JT is a hero and a legend to many in Australia and the JT Academy programs and resources directly link in with our Deadly Choices strategy of empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make healthy choices and shape their work future through training and employment pathways,” Adrian said.

“We are proud to partner with this program and support the goal of help building confidence, courage, and self-belief in young adults to help them understand their value and aspirations with future employment opportunities.

“There is clear evidence of the link between health, education, and employment outcomes and so working alongside JT Academy as a JTConnect Program Partner is helping us to connect with our young people to increase engagement and to facilitate aspiration to deadly careers pathways.”

At various JTConnect workshops, Deadly Choices will also run their Good Quick Tukka program and provide some great initiatives to encourage regular health checks.

The JTConnect program will be running over the next 12 months and will see the team visit a number of schools in the Cairns and Logan regions.

Schools within the Logan and Cairns areas are invited to contact Rhi Parsons or the team at  jtconnect@jtacademy.com.au to register for the free program.

At least 100 school students from remote Indigenous communities will join Johnathan Thurston on a virtual dive of the Great Barrier Reef as part of an exciting new partnership between his academy and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

The students, from the remote Kowanyama and Yarrabah communities, are members of the JT Academy. The dive will be held on May 26, 2020 to celebrate the launch of the JTReefDreaming program, which will virtually connect young Australians with one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.

With the help of reef education scuba divers at the Authority’s Reef HQ Aquarium, the students will enjoy a virtual dive on the reef with JT. The students will also be provided with educational workbooks which look at the Reef and how they can help protect it, and test their knowledge through a series of question and answer sheets.

Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley welcomed the initiative.

“It’s a great idea that provides a fun, novel approach to learning about the rich ecosystems of this natural wonder,” Minister Ley said.

“Johnathan Thurston is an inspirational leader who can help kids connect with the Reef, inspire them to learn more about it, and provide a break from the challenges of COVID-19 Isolation.

“These are the next generation of Reef custodians and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s national education center is working with JT to inspire them from a young age.”

Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef Warren Entsch said: “This is a fantastic initiative and one that will continue to highlight the beauty and vibrancy of our Great Barrier Reef.

“JT is s role model for many indigenous kids and it is great to see him on-board with this initiative.”

JT, the Managing Director of the JT Academy, said he was proud that the academy was able to make the program happen during COVID-19 and that he could virtually connect with the students, who had been in isolation for almost ten weeks.

“The JTReefDreaming program is important because it is connecting our kids with one of the greatest natural wonders of the world so that we will be able to help protect it in the future,” JT said.

“In response to COVID-19, our team has worked really hard to ensure the kids, who the academy worked with, were not left behind and our educational programs didn’t just stop. This is a great program which I’m very proud the academy could deliver.”

Minister Ley said that it was timely that JTReefDreaming was being launched just as National Reconciliation Week was about to begin on 27 May with the theme “In This Together”.

“The Authority has already scaled up its education outreach programs to support families that are home-schooling while social distancing measures are in place,” she said. “JTReefDreaming is extending that support directly into Aboriginal communities.”

JT said the students and families across Australia will have free access to the JTReefDreaming workbooks for two weeks on the JT Academy website.

To download a copy visit https://bit.ly/3gn2gxy

The JT Academy is continuing its drive to help young Australians shine, launching a series of interactive booklets to keep them educated and informed on important issues.

JTBelieve is a series of 7 booklets inspired by the programs and workshops that are delivered and run by the JT Academy. Johnathan and his team have developed programs, books, and resources that aim to empower our youth, to achieve personal growth and life success.

Available through the JTResources page of the academy’s website, the booklets in the JTBelieve series are available as ebooks or paperbacks.  Primary and Secondary school versions available for each booklet. Suited and developed for all learning styles.

They are illustrative of the faith JT had when working hard despite early rejections to reach the highest heights of the NRL. The JTBelieve series of booklets, inspire hard work, educate, and improve self-development.

The second and third series will cover employment and empowering young women, available in the coming weeks.

JT Academy Managing Director Johnathan Thurston said the booklets were an important part of the academy’s reason to exist.

“We created the JT Academy in 2018 to help make a difference in the lives of young people, and these booklets are a key part of that goal,” he said.

To access the booklets go to https://bit.ly/2zCh4ra

Since the 2018 launch of the JT Academy, as a new business, the journey so far has been challenging and rewarding. The team is driven to make a difference and has already grown and achieved so much. As an Indigenous-owned and Supply Nation registered business, Managing Director, Johnathan Thurston AM, recently commissioned Theodore based Indigenous artist, Wayne Martin, to produce a unique design piece that would represent the facets of this journey and goals for the future.

Wayne and his wife Danielle are the owners of Ngurambang Cultural Education and Aboriginal Art. Wayne describes the story within his design as beginning with a meeting place to represent the creation and drive behind the JT Academy. From there, pathways lead off to areas depicting the key values of youth, education, employment and community – all interconnected, now and into the future. Overall, the design portrays the passion, kindness, hard work, pride and teamwork that makes the JT Academy unique and successful.

“Along my cultural journey, I have met a lot of strong cultural men, and this is what inspires my art,” said Wayne, a proud Wiradjuri/Maranganji (Mardigan) man.

“I am humbled to provide this artwork for Johnathan Thurston and enjoyed incorporating his totem, the Emu, and creating something that tells a complete story of the JT Academy.

“It is really important to share our culture; this is something that we, myself and my wife Danielle, are very passionate about, it is the reason we started our business.”

JT intends for elements of the design to appear within the Academy branding and marketing.

“The artwork will be positioned in the JT Academy office as a proud reminder of our history and our future and be something that inspires the team every day,” said Thurston.