it’s Courtney

It’s Courtney… she’s always been a Port Adelaide local and everyone in Port Adelaide know her as the little nine year old who worked and served the punters at the Mayfair Bakery in the Port, that’s where it all started for her in getting to know the community.

Courtney’s Grandpa ‘Barry Schultz’ owned the Mayfair Bakery and … Courtney fills us in, “our entire family worked the bakery, there was Grandpa, Nanna (Judy) she was the book keeper, Dad (Mark), Uncle (Craig), Brothers (Guy and Ryan), Sister (Camille), Mum (Nicole), Cousins (Jasmin, Lee and Mitchell). All the girls would be out the front of the shop serving customers and all the boys were the bakers out the back.”

There was no question that Courtney would work at the Port Adelaide iconic, Mayfair Bakery… and boy did she learn the ropes quick, Courtney remembers, “Since I was nine years old I was out the front serving pasties and pies, and I thought that I was getting paid quite well, but in time I realised that I was getting twenty bucks a week… it wasn’t that much money, it was like slave labour, haha!”.

It was in Courtney‘s early years that she connected with the community, she remembers, “I was really small and I was taught by Grandpa that customer service is so important, so there I was, this little girl serving the community over the Mayfair Bakery counter. Everyone has come to know me around here as Little Courtney.

Our family had three Mayfair Bakery shops in total, one in St Vincent Street, one down at Semaphore and also a shop in the Port Mall.” It’s fair to say that Courtney’s family’s name is truly imbedded in our neck of the woods, with the Mayfair Bakery in the ‘Schultz’ family name for over one hundred years and Courtney being the fourth generation to work there… they are definitely not out of towners!!

Courtney shares, “Grandpa liked everything old school, we would do everything by hand. Grandpa used to get the grand-kids in and we’d cut up all the vegetables, dice them all up and then he would chuck them in the pasties. We bought everything fresh.”

All of us are connected to the Mayfair Bakery in some way, but Courtney lifts the lid on a few things you may not know about the King Pin, Barry Schultz and the famous bakery… like...

“When he first started off there was around 30 to 40 Mayfair Bakery employees.”

“He loved the community and he used to do so much around the Port and Semaphore, all of the pies and pasties that weren’t sold on the day, he would take them all down to the church and the homeless shelters, he was just a very kind person.”

“Mayfair served a lot of people around here and he would always give discount to all the locals, you’d never pay the ticket price unless you were from out of town.”

“He got all the angle parking on St Vincent Street happening. He sent letters for five years to the council requesting angle parking.”

“Everyone down our way all got their wedding and birthday cakes from us.”

Courtney smiles when she remembers the old 1950 Mayfair Bakery van that used to get around, she lets us know, “that old van had over four hundred thousand kilometres on the clock and Grandpa could only go from the Port to Semaphore and back, because if it would go any further, it would just conk out and Grandpa didn’t want to spend the money on it to get it fixed. Grandpa was always very trusting so he would always leave the keys in the van ignition, he reckons it got stolen around six times and he would be running after the people who stole it. One time he grabbed one of the thieves by the ear pulling them out and said don’t steal my van. After a while it got to the point I think we all wanted someone to steal it again so he could get a new one on insurance but he never wanted to part with it, it was his baby.”

Courtney’s Grandpa is long retired now, the bakery has changed hands and Courtney lets us know, “Grandpa is still around, he’s still cracking on and enjoying life at a retirement village”.

So how did Courtney’s journey go from the young nine year old girl serving at Mayfair Bakery to making a real positive impact to young kids with autism?

Courtney shares, “some of the customers that would come into the Mayfair Bakery and Patisseriehad autistic children, so I was exposed to that from a young age and as a youngster I was inquisitive and wanted to know more about it. Then when I was 12 years old I was introduced to one of my best friends (Zoe Sandell) who had a son that was diagnosed with autism and he was non-verbal, he became a big part of my life and also his brother had Asperger’s whom I became really good mates with.

I noticed from a very young age that he was dis-included, treated differently and he just didn’t want to go to any social events because he knew that he would be treated differently. So I would step in and give him the courage to go to social events such as formal, because I wanted him to feel apart of something...and we became really good mates. I think that family really helped me blossom into who I am today within the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) community. They exposed me to charity events and I became involved in many different ASD events, it is all about making children feel like they are a part of something and to focus on the equality side, because unfortunately in mainstream schools it just doesn’t happen enough.

We don’t teach well-being enough in schools for them to be okay to survive in a social world, that’s why I thought I would take the initiative and set up my own business to teach well-being and social interaction and emotional development for young children on the spectrum. I think that it is so important and that is why I’m doing what I’m doing, it’s not for academics, it’s about the social and emotional development. It matters if you are okay in your heart, I learned that through my experiences at Mayfair and being in a community where everyone helps each other out. I really have to thank my Dad for everything he has taught me because he has been the biggest influence in my life to make me strive to be a kind person and to do your best to help others whenever you can. From a young girl I have watched Dad put everyone else before himself. I have watched him share his love and kindness to everyone! He is really quite an amazing person.. he’s the type of person that would stop if you were stuck on the road and he would help you, but not only that he would apologise to you for not being able to help enough and would give you freshly cooked pasties to make your day better... that was his go to, he would always just give out Mayfair pasties to those who looked upset or who needed help... it’s just the sort of loving, kind person he is, and... he always had fricken pasties on him!! Haha. 

Children with ASD can struggle with understanding social interactions, if you don’t have that development...you feel left out, excluded, helpless and worthless. There’s mental health issues that come into play with that, so it is helping them change their mind set and the way that they interact. I teach children empathy because sometimes it’s hard for a child on the spectrum to have that.”

Courtney visits children at home to teach them one on one social and emotional well-being, she explains, “I teach them social interaction, I teach and give them strategies on how to self regulate, to help them develop socially and with that being said there is intentional teaching involved which leads into the academics, however my main priority is to support their social/emotional development. I make it fun with things like board games, group experiences, etc. It’s not the academic side of things I focus on, it’s about their emotional well-being, that’s the most important thing to me... and once you achieve social and emotional development you’ll see the academics naturally come.”

Courtney has also partnered up with Semaphore Pets & Garden where the children can actually come and pat the alpaca, ducks and birds and they run a thirty minute program for the kids on how to plant their plants and they then get to take them home.”

Courtney has a Diploma of Education and works throughout the week as a SSO (School Support Officer) supporting children on the spectrum. She also has extensive experience in trauma related training with children and has worked within the education industry for the last four years.

Courtney wants to make a difference, she shares, “all I could wish for is to change a child’s perception on the world and just make it a beautiful place, it’s about teaching them about love and kindness. Children on the spectrum can experience the world as being very raw, it can be either black or white. All children want to feel connected and have a sense of belonging and to be a part of something. We’ve all got that primary school teacher that changed us in someway, just because they were kind, imagine if we could get more people to be just like that.”

To find out more and to get in contact with Courtney at ‘ASD Support and Education’ click this link here ASD Support and Education. You will also find heaps of resources for parents to use with their children to help them with social and emotional developmental strategies.

itsPortAdelaide is excited to be connected to such a passionate person determined to make a positive change. ASD Support and Education is at a point where Courtney has acknowledged help is needed. Courtney has reached out to businesses like Harvey Norman , Brother Australia and Neptune Blanket which have all supported her with resources. 

If the amazing work Courtney is doing resonates with you and you are able to support in the way of resources please flick her a message on her facebook page… I know she would be really grateful to hear from you. Also, by liking ASD Support and Education facebook page you will expose more people to the great work Courtney is doing and can potentially make a young kid’s life a whole lot happier.

Thanks Courtney for sharing some of your old family stories and congrats with all the awesome work you’re doing with the kids!!! Love ya work!!