Students get a taste of life at the museum
The highs and lows of working in the tourism industry were highlighted during Kalgoorlie-Boulder's first ever Takeover Museum Day yesterday.
About 18 Eastern Goldfields College students studying tourism took over management of the WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder, delving straight into the good, the bad and the really dusty.
Split into various groups, some students focused on front-of-house roles and the overall running of the museum, others on activity planning and the rest were put to work in the collections store.
Wiping the dust off books and shelving and sorting through boxes of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's former cross-dressing cabaret star Fanny Cracker's collection of outfits - it was an interesting day for the students.
Manager Zoe Scott said she was pleasantly surprised to see the students fully committed to their roles, and hoped they would continue to explore their options in the tourism industry.
"I have been standing back and letting them do as much as possible so they get the hang of things, can do it for themselves and ultimately, are learning something," she said.
"I would be really happy to see even one from this group look at a career in tourism, museums, archaeology or history, because they really enjoyed it or got some inspiration from this experience.
"There is so much tourism potential here in the Goldfields … and I believe we need to put so much more support behind it."
The students are all completing their Certificate II in Tourism, which has been offered at the school for three years.
EGC teacher Vanessa Leslie said this was the first time the students had implemented their skills at the museum, but hoped it would continue in the future.
"It works really well with our tourism students because it is not just an art museum or a vintage car museum, it is really specific to local tourism," she said.
"It gets them out of the classroom and gets them doing some practical work rather than everything being theory based.
"They get to learn about the various jobs within the tourism industry … as well as the practical skills of working in the sector, communication skills and more."
The day was inspired by the UK's Takeover Museum Day.
