A Gold Coast school for at-risk teenage boys has thrown the rule book aside to offer an alternative education model aimed at teaching how to be good men. English and maths are in the curriculum, but so are life skills such as changing tyres and cooking dinner.
“We’re giving them as many life skills as we can, and more importantly, getting them to be good men and be part of society, and help them with either education or work,” founder Marco Renai said. “We’re proactive in trying to build a system that really works for these boys.”
How it began
When Mr Renai, a personal trainer at the time, was invited to the Palm Beach parklands with youth justice advocates to help support local boys at risk, he thought sharing some stories and a bit of hard training ought to do the trick.
“I went down there thinking that sit-ups and push-ups were going to solve all the problems of the world,” he said. “Very quickly I learned that life and what these boys had to face and struggle through was so much bigger than that.”
He left motivated to do a whole lot more.
Within weeks, he had rounded up his gym and fitness connections to support an eight-week pilot program aimed at impacting the lives of youths who didn’t fit the mainstream school system, had disengaged, and who were careering towards a future often obliquely described as “down the wrong path”.
Ten years on, that program has now attracted federal and state funding and matured into an independent Year 11 and 12 school: the Men of Business (MOB) Academy.
Breaking the mould
There are currently 130 boys enrolled in full education and work pathways in Year 11 and 12 at MOB. They’re supported by a team of 30 people, including educators, psychologists, social workers and wellness coaches, fitness trainers and kitchen staff.
Mr Renai says MOB doesn’t fit the mainstream mould. Students train every day, are served breakfast and lunch, with take-home meals for the neediest, and attend life skills as well as academic classes.
“In the education stream we have essential English, essential maths, aquatic practices, community studies, sport and rec,” he said. “But then we have changing tyres, ironing shirts, cooking dinner – these are the life skills that these boys need.”
Most students referred to the Academy, says Mr Renai, either didn’t fit the traditional school system or had been suspended or expelled from school.
“Before they come to us, they’ve come through a system that’s made them feel like failures,” he said. “They come in, they’ve got their barriers up. They would have been told they’re useless and they’re never going to make it as anything.
“Our job is to build them up and support them, and when the time is right, add the pathway.”
Of the 65 boys who graduated from MOB in 2021, 80 per cent had achieved work or traineeship placements.
Preparing for life
Mr Renai says support and belief in their potential to be good men and be successful in life is the essential ingredient that was missing for many of the boys.
“When I started, I wasn’t thinking about building a school, I just wanted to help a few boys,” he said.
“I struggled at school, I had issues, and still had issues when I got older. I didn’t have a tough upbringing, I had a beautiful family, but I very much failed in the education system and spent a few years running away from it. I felt like an absolute failure in that part of my life, which I carried with me for a long time.
“I believe school is about preparing our kids for life, and everything about this school is getting the kids passionate and excited about the world, not getting beaten down by it.”
Supporting young men
The MOB Academy is an independent special assistance school operated by Men of Business Australia, a not-for-profit charitable organisation. A base fee of $150 per term is charged (which can be covered if not affordable), a flexible uniform (T-shirt, gym shorts and cap) is provided free, and the young men attending need only bring a “great attitude” and “gratitude”.
“I believe I’ve got an amazing model that could go anywhere in Australia and support boys at risk anywhere,” Mr Renai said. “It’s really now a matter of the right people and the right community getting behind it.”
How do you instil confidence and resilience in young men?
Giving boys the tools they need to thrive is a key focus of the MOB Academy.
Mr Renai points to two crucial factors.
“One is giving them a safe space, a place of belonging,” he said. “And two is actually walking with them step by step, and getting them to understand the concept of facing their fears, and facing these with them. Over time, they understand that they’re strong enough and they do have the tools.”
This is particularly important given the background of the boys enrolled at MOB Academy.
“They’ve come from a background of failure,” Mr Renai said. “After you’ve failed a few times, you just prefer to run away. You don’t want to be resilient, you don’t want to have that pain of failure, or of letting people down, or not being able to read, or not being able to spell, or not being able to do the maths test.
“When I first started, I thought push-ups, sit-ups and motivation could solve it. Now I realise that, typically, what you can see is the tip of the iceberg, and it’s everything you can’t see that you’ve got to work on.
“Their actions, their reactions, whether it be anger, sadness, or whatever it is, really there’s a deeper trigger in there. And until you can find what that trigger is, you’re not really solving anything. You’re really just band-aiding it.”
Mr Renai also dismisses the expectation that teens should “have it all sorted out”.
“I’m 48 years old, and I still have triggers and issues that I need to work on myself,” he said. “How can I expect a 15- or 16-year-old boy to have all the answers and be able to act maturely, or understand what his issues are, or deal with the trauma that he might have faced to be in the position he’s in?”
The experience with MOB Academy has also helped Mr Renai to better understand himself.
“I feel like I’m in a space now where I realise that the challenging times are my best times to learn and grow,” he said. “So, the hardest times I face in my job, or in my family, or with my kids, are really the times I’m developing as a person, and that can make a real difference.”
This feature was originally published in the June issue of Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine.
