Students at Dubbo South Public School have developed a greater interest in science and technology thanks to a generous donation from a former attendee.
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Andrew Jackson has donated $50,000 to the school through the Schools Plus program, which helps connect alumni with their former primary and secondary schools.
Dubbo South Public School teacher Lisa Lunn said it had make an incredible difference to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) program at the school. As well as being able to buy equipment such as laptops, it had also allowed for teacher development, taking the number of trained STEM staff from one to 12.
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At lunchtime on Thursday, Ms Lunn’s classroom was full of students, even though they were on a break.
School captains Alex Blanch and Mali Hopkins-Davies were building a robotic elephant with more than 250 steps they would then code to be able to move and pick up objects.
The more challenging the project, the more he enjoyed it, Alex said, as it was more satisfying when completed.
Alex, who plans to be a university lecturer in chemistry, said it was amazing they were learning skills students 40 years ago never would have dreamed of.
Mali said it was important for STEM to be a focus.
“It’s the way the world is going. STEAM or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) is important for the future. These are the skills that will benefit us when were looking for a job,” she said.
Mali wants to pursue a career in speech pathology “because everyone deserves free speech”.
Ms Lunn said the STEM programs the school had been running were also designed to heighten the students’ aspirations. The funding had allowed for three visits from the University of Newcastle, prompting discussions about university and higher education degrees.
In the Impact Report on the Schools Plus program Mr Jackson said education was front-and-centre in his family. His wife, parents and grandparents were all pubic school teachers, he said.
“Country public schools are full of brilliant kids who can contribute a lot to Australian society, and hopefully programs such as the one I’ve backed at Dubbo South can motivate more of these kids to pursue further study,” he said.
Orlander Ruming
Deputy editor at the Daily Liberal, covering council, politics, human interest stories, community news and everything in between.
Deputy editor at the Daily Liberal, covering council, politics, human interest stories, community news and everything in between.
