At one school in Casino, creativity isn’t confined to canvases or classrooms – it’s built, grown, stitched and shared. At St Mary’s Catholic College, that spirit is unexpectedly taking shape: a vintage van set to become a student-run coffee hub.
For Coordinating Principal John O’Brien, the project is about far more than just a renovation – it’s about creating real-world opportunities for students to learn, collaborate and imagine what their futures might look like.
“It is a bit different,” he said. “I reckon it’s going to be great… It’s really sort of funky.”
The idea was sparked by Campus Principal Nadine Connolly, who saw potential in expanding the school’s existing hospitality program. From there, a conversation with the local Rotary club helped bring the vision to life.
“I got asking around… and I was speaking to Casino Rotary,” Mr O’Brien explained. “They’ve pretty much gifted it to us… it’s a beautiful old thing.”
That “beautiful old thing” is a vintage, Airstream-style van which will soon be transformed entirely by students. From construction and fit-out to branding and service, the project draws on skills from across the school.
“We’re going to get our kids to remodel the inside and to design wraps for the outside,” he said. “Then we’re going to set up a little café… where the kids will serve coffees and hot chocolates and do food for the senior kids and for staff.”
It’s a project that captures the essence of “Created on the North Coast” – local collaboration, practical skills and a willingness to think outside the square.
“Let’s think outside the square, let’s look at opportunity,” Mr O’Brien said. “It was just me asking the question… and Rotary were so generous. That’s a genuine sort of partnership.”
At its heart, the van project is about hands-on, meaningful learning – something Mr O’Brien is deeply passionate about.
“It’s real-world learning,” he said. “It’s learning that will get them into the real world… but also it makes the school a much better place for the kids as well.”
Students across multiple disciplines will play a role in bringing the van to life.
“Your woodwork, metalwork kids doing the fit-out, your art kids doing the designs, your hospitality kids actually making and selling the stuff,” he said. “I love it – the whole thing.”
The goal is not just engagement, but inclusion – ensuring every student can find a pathway that suits them.
“100 per cent,” Mr O’Brien said when asked if practical projects help engage students who don’t thrive in traditional classrooms. “We have to look at that… and not do silly projects that don’t really get anywhere.”
Looking ahead, the school is even exploring more tailored pathways for students from Year 9.
“Whether they want to do the academic route… or whether they’re thinking more of trade, we can go down that road at a younger age,” he said.
While the vintage van may be the headline act, it’s far from the only example of creativity flourishing at St Mary’s.
Out at the school’s Earth Centre – a sprawling property just beyond town – students are getting their hands dirty in the best possible way.
“We’ve got around 190 acres out of town… we grow vegetables, we have cattle, vegetables, some great chillis,” Mr O’Brien said. “We’ve got goats, chickens… and we sell the eggs and those sorts of things as well.”
Closer to campus, creativity continues in quieter but equally meaningful ways, from student-designed murals to lunchtime knitting and crocheting groups.
“It’s good – staff utilising their skills and the kids,” he said. “You’ll get a good group of kids that turn up at lunchtime to do the old-fashioned yarning, knitting – keeping some of those more traditional handicrafts alive.”
Across all of these initiatives, one theme remains constant: connection to community.
“That’s a big goal of ours,” Mr O’Brien said. “To make sure that we are really putting ourselves out there into the community, being present in the community – and the community present in us here as well.”
The vintage van itself will play a role beyond the school gates, popping up at events and strengthening those local ties.
“We’ll use it for sports carnivals, for different activities in the community,” he said. “And Rotary will use it a couple of times a year as well.”
For a regional school, that connection matters more than ever.
“Let’s look at opportunity,” Mr O’Brien said. “Particularly being regional… the opportunities are a little bit different. So we’ve got to think differently.”
For Mr O’Brien, who has only been in the role for 10 weeks, the energy around these projects is just the beginning.
“I’m really committed… to make sure that I can do my best,” he said.
And as the vintage van prepares for its transformation, it stands as a symbol of something bigger – what can happen when creativity, community and education come together.
For St Mary’s students, it seems, the future isn’t just being imagined, it’s being created.
We’re celebrating all kinds of things made right here on the North Coast.