Uninterested in school and fatalistic about his future, Nicolas was one of 15 youths from Lanyon High School selected to take part in the program, which aims to get young people interested in education through targeted vocational training opportunities. The Year 10 student and his peers worked for three weeks on upgrading the skate park and recreational area at the YWCA Mura Lanyon Youth and Community Centre, developing skills in bricklaying, paving and landscaping.

The students constructed a new outdoor barbecue area, additional seating and a small basketball court during the program, turning what was once a maze of dead grass into a quality outdoor area capable of hosting a range of events.

During the training stage, the students completed a course in occupational health and safety.

Nicolas said the experience helped him decide what he wanted to do with his life and motivated him to work harder at school.

''Without this program I never would have thought about bricklaying, I really enjoyed it and knew I'd never get sick of it, so now I'm doing a school-based bricklaying apprenticeship.

''I'm still at school two days a week. I do one day a week at Canberra Institute of Technology and three days at Jensen Bricklaying as part of the apprenticeship,'' he said.

Yesterday, Nicolas and his peers celebrated their achievements at the official opening of the revamped skate park and recreational area.

Minister for Children and Young People Joy Burch presented each participant with a certificate recognising the competencies they achieved on the program.

For more on this story, including Ms Burch's comments on the program, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.