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Year 8 Discovery Days at UWA
by Ray Garrett 4 December 2015
O
ver 150 Indigenous students from 30 schools experienced university life first hand last week. With exams over for tertiary students the campus was filled with Year 8’s attending the Year 8 Discovery Days coordinated by School of Indigenous Studies (SIS) at the University of Western Australia. Students participated in three activities during the day ranging from marketing at the Business School, fitness testing at sport science, learning about human biology and anatomy, medicine and psychology, plus an constructing a paper bridge at engineering conducted by students from Engineers Without Borders. UWA Indigenous students
Y8DD group 2015 Students at Discovery Day. Image supplied
were on hand as mentors each day and gave an insight about their journey through high school and into university. UWA student Luke Davies who has just finished his medical degree also ran a session with students that involved plastering each other’s arms, which everyone loved. Other mentors such as Nixon Hamlett and Angel Hayward previously attended the Year 8 Discovery Day and participated in the SIS Outreach program during high school along with 5th year medical student Bianca Howard from Broome. James Skoda, Coordinator from South West Follow The Dream said “I found the day totally engaging, flowing and interactive, as did the students. The use of mentors and allowing them to have a majority of
the relationships and presentation for the day worked really well and totally engaging for the students. The Discovery Day first started in 2000 with 25 students from 5 schools. It has now grown to a week of activities with many country schools showing interest. Schools from Hedland and Tom Price in the Pilbara organised their camps during November so they could attend and schools from the South West Follow the Dream program and Merredin College drove 2-3 hours to participate. The Year 8 Discovery Days are part of the overall Outreach program offered by the School of Indigenous Studies that includes the Year 12 Leadership Seminar, WACE Revision and the Year 10 Science camp.
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