LEETON High School students participating in a new program have learned about the region's rice industry in a short period of time.
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Ten students recently took part in the industry mentoring program with SunRice, which was facilitated by GetSet partnership brokers, after it was determined there was a need for trained mentors to provide another level of interaction between an employer and students.
SunRice was keen to pilot the program with benefits for employment and recruitments when the students are ready to leave school.
The program finished up last week with a presentation afternoon, with students proving positive feedback of their experience, according to GetSet chief executive officer Frank Valenzisi.
"A lot of the students have been saying they wish it could have gone for longer," he said.
"They learned a lot over the course of the program where they basically shadowed their mentors for a couple of hours one day a week.
"I know a lot went in thinking SunRice was just about packing rice up and having it shipped away, but they now know it is a lot more than that."
As part of the program students also went through the company's job application process, preparing them for what the "real world" is like.
Mr Valenzisi said while this initial year had included SunRice, the industry mentoring program would be open to other interested businesses in the future.
"It's certainly got a lot of potential ... it's almost running like a mini LYNKS program," he said.
"It was a very big responsibility for SunRice to come on board with this program, but they've done a wonderful job, with the mentors really throwing themselves into the initiative."
