Students in Year 11 at Stella Maris College in Manly, on Sydney’s northern beaches, were taught how to change a tyre, the most efficient way to check tyre pressure, how to best monitor oil and coolant levels and what to do in the event of a car accident.
According to their website, the all female Galmatic team of four ‘specialise in helping Australian women and teenagers feel comfortable behind the wheel through our hands-on car maintenance workshops and online courses.’
Eleni Mitakos, who has run Galmatic for the past 13 years, was quick to state the hands on workshops are not only for teenage girls.
“We teach up to 100,000 teenagers a year in schools, across all parts of Sydney.”
“The primary aim is for teenagers to feel comfortable behind the wheel. Ultimately they are driving very big vehicles which can be very expensive if not looked after properly.”
“We can’t stress enough to all our students you should never ignore a problem with you car, you need to address it for your own safety.”
Amy Smith, the assistant principal for well-being at Stella Maris College, said the students all found the recent workshop a valuable exercise.
“We had three groups of roughly 40 girls in what we call an incursion (event on school grounds).”
“The feedback was very positive, the ladies from Galmatic were very patient and thorough in what they were explaining.All the teaching staff and our principal Elizabeth Carnegie felt a workshop like this would be beneficial for many reasons, mainly skills the girls need to learn before they leave school.”
“It was also important to show the girls that they have the capabilities to handle situations themselves once they are on the road, rather than rely on someone else.”