MUNA

This Saturday and Sunday we are sponsoring three students from Auburn High School to debate at MUNA.

MUNA stands for Model United Nations Assembly and is a Rotary sponsored debating program that aims to improve students public speaking and debating skills and encourage them to make sympathetic and informed comments on world problems, and share opinions and friendship with students from other schools.

The students are allocated a country to represent; for the Auburn High School students this is Brazil, and debate on matters of world political and social concern. They have been sent a list of Resolutions that are up for debate including issues about Security and the Middle East, with 5 resolutions, Health and Education 3, Human Rights 9, Environment 3, Trade and Commerce 7 and United Nations3.

In addition they receive a Background Briefing Profile template as an aid to researching the country they are representing and a list of Rules to ensure that the debates are orderly and run efficiently.

At first sight debating as a United Nations member may sound odd, but when you think about it, the program is an excellent way for students to learn about world problems and issues, how to approach these issues from the point of view of another country, how to negotiate with fellow Bloc countries and team members about who will say what, and  how to win or lose with grace.

There will be 30 teams and 67 students competing.

SANTOS SCIENCE EXPERIENCE

We have also agreed to sponsor up to nine Auburn High School students to attend three day programs to be run by Swinburne University in June, RMIT University in July and Melbourne University in January 2024.

These three programs are for year 9 and year 10 students and are part of the Santos Science Experience range of outlook programs. They are for students interested in science and  give them the opportunity over three days to explore career paths in science and see what University is all about.

The programs have different emphasis, but they all give the students the opportunity to explore fields of science through interactive, hands on workshops and demonstrations, experiments in chemistry labs, and work in state of the art facilities in disciplines such as space science, nanotechnology,biomedical science, food science, allied health sciences and engineering.

Students learn from academic experts, and undergraduates help the students work their way through the program in a supportive safe and exciting environment.

The school has expressed their appreciation and are considering how to best promote and allocate these programs.

We will also be offering to sponsor students to attend other Santos Science Experience programs later in the year.

The Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre at Queenscliff has a one day program for students interested in exploring the possibilities for future studies and careers in aquatic science and this will be held on September 26, whilst the University of Melbourne has a three day program at Dookie from November 29 to December 1 .

Dookie is a working farm and centre of agricultural research and teaching, and activities include biodiversity, sheep science, plant science, protein content of milk. making cheese and robotic dairy.

NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE FORUM

The National Youth Science Forum is a more in depth program for year 11 and Year 12 students considering a career in science, engineering or technology and we have  agreed to help sponsor up to three students to attend this 12 day residential program. It has been operating as a hybrid model during Covid restrictions , however the upcoming program will be returning to a full residential camp in Canberra in January 2024

MOCK INTERVIEWS

The Mock Interviews that we have been conducting at Auburn High School since 2015, are the culmination of a term learning about the world of work, resume preparation and updating, developing an accompanying letter, and making application for a job. The purpose is to help prepare the students to apply for a real job and give them confidence when it comes to doing this.

We will be interviewing around 160 students on September 13 and 14 and will be needing  about 35 volunteer interviewers.

FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS

The purpose of the District Foundation Scholarship program is to encourage talented and motivated young people , currently in Year10 and facing financial barriers to success, to complete their Year 11 and Year 12 secondary education.

The scholarship can be used for textbooks and stationery, uniforms, camps, excursions, computers, Myki tickets, musical instruments, tuition costs and other course related costs.

We currently have two scholarships in place, one for 2022/2023,which finishes at the end of this year, and one for 2023/2024.  We will be applying for a new 2024/2025 scholaship in November and if this application is successful it  will maintain our recent history of supporting two students each year with Foundation Scholarships.

We share  the cost of the Scholarships with Foundation.

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Last December 10 members and a school parent made vocational presentations based on their work experience and careers to those students who were unsuccessful in obtaining Work Experience positions.This was well received and Robyn Boardman, the Careers Pathways and Transitions Manager, advised that she would like to conduct another event at the end of this year.

We made a number of suggestions for improvement of the program, at our planning meeting  with the school in March, and these will be considered by the school when it comes time to finalise arrangements for the Vocational program at the end of the year.