I whakaputahia tuatahia tēnei atikara e NITV i Ahitereiria.
Illegal fishing, pest control, communications technology and food access were some of the project focuses put forward to the national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition by Torres Strait Islander year 6 students.
They’re making history, marking the first time Torres Strait Islander students from the region have had the opportunity to compete in nationals.
Over the past year, they consulted with Elders and Traditional Owners about some of the important issues their communities face and how to tackle them using traditional knowledge and western science.
The ideas successfully landed them a place in the STEM nationals and next month they will make the 3000 kilometre pilgrimage south to Sydney.
For these island kids, the thought of the major capital city is hugely exciting and a little nerve racking.
“I’ve never been to Sydney before, so it’s going to be interesting,” Meleisha Gela said with a big smile on her face.
“I get to meet a lot of new people, have fun, explore new things, so it’s it really means a lot to me.
“It means for the community, we get to do these kind of activities and ... have a lot of opportunities to travel the world during STEM MAD.”
Her school, Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Torres Strait, partnered with Brisbane’s St Finbarrs Catholic Primary School to help organise STEM activations, including the first ever STEM competition held on Waiben.
Over the past two years the cohorts from each school have travelled to each others locations, exchanged cultures and academia.
St Finbarr’s Principal, Catherine Connors, said for her students exposure to Country and culture were limited in the busy state capital of Brisbane.
She said her students also has easier access to learning opportunities, and it was good for them to witness remote living first hand.
“So to have the opportunity to learn authentically from their peers, from elders, and from the community here, Zenadth Kes has just been a complete gift.
“Particularly learning in STEM, where we’re looking at First Nations ways of knowing and being in the sciences.
“In the words of one of our gorgeous 11-year-olds, ‘I think that our friends in Waiben and Kirriri have it right because when I talk to them about their weekends, they’re fishing, they’re out with their family, they’re camping, and they’re having so much fun.’
“They’re part of a real community, and for our students in Brisbane, that may not necessarily be evident to them in the same way.”
The exchange and STEM trip is made possible through funding from the Yadha Mura Foundation which pairs city and country schools for knowledge exchange.
Lady of the Sacred Heart Principal David Graham said the partnership had been a blessing and he was working to try and renew the funding and continue the program.
He said getting young people from the Torres Strait to STEM nationals had been invaluable.
“Helping our young people to have the confidence to step into that space, their voices loud and allowing others to hear those voices is going to give them such ownership of their future.”
Kaurareg Elder Enid Tom said it was the first time a project like this had worked with Traditional Owners.
She said she loved seeing young minds absorbing the knowledge and applying it in the sciences.
“I’d like to see this project go on and on every year because this is another way of teaching children,” she said.
“Passing on knowledge, language culture, biodiversity, what to look after, how to look after it.”
Parent of Lady of the Sacred Heart student Walter Seekee, Michelle Seekee, said she was so grateful the students had the opportunity.
“He’s going to boarding school next year and [I want him] to continue the STEM journey and to follow science,” she said.
“It’s such an opportunity, especially for the Torres Strait.
“There’s a lot of untapped science and engineering things that kids could be doing and taking into the future to support the island communities.”
This article was written in collaboration with Torres Strait Islander Media Association.
Nā Carli Willis nō NITV.
