Eurobodalla Shire Council horticultural apprentice Stacey Wade has been presented with Moruya TAFE’s ‘The Shovel’ award for demonstrating both theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge in horticulture.
Stacey is currently working as an apprentice with Eurobodalla Shire Council’s parks and gardens crew, and is completing her Certificate III in Horticulture at Moruya TAFE.
“I’m honoured to receive ‘The Shovel’ award,” said Ms Wade. “I am joint winner with one of my TAFE cohort, Scott Jones. I’m very grateful to the council for giving me the opportunity to be a horticultural apprentice in their parks and gardens team. It’s a job I love.
“I also want to thank Moruya TAFE for delivering an engaging and practical course which I thoroughly enjoyed. Moruya TAFE should be congratulated on the way they navigated the transition from face-to-face to online learning during COVID-19 restrictions.”
Stacey was presented with ‘The Shovel’ award by Moruya TAFE’s Gabriele Harding, who noted that council has consistently selected apprentices who excel in their TAFE studies.
“It’s been a group of students who really excel, as you’ll see by some of the names engraved on ‘The Shovel’,” she said.
Eurobodalla Shire Council works manager Tony Swallow said the public would already be familiar with some of Ms Wade’s work.
“Anyone who’s visited the revamped gardens at Moruya’s Apex Park and Riverside Park can appreciate Stacey’s talent,” said Mr Swallow. “She co-designed those with the rest of the team.
“Former apprentices Rhiannon Cooper and Eli Ryan have also won ‘The Shovel’ in recent years. We’re pretty happy to be able to draw on a pool of great local talent, then support them through their apprenticeship with engaging work experience.”