Last school holidays three Year 9 students from Tagai Secondary College were lucky enough to rub shoulders with some passionate scientists and get a taste for university life on the Gold Coast.

Thanks to sponsorship from the Rotary Club of Thursday Island and additional support from Bond University and the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City; Leilani Weston, Jazmyn Wena and Taylor Takai-Wall (nominated by their deadly Science teacher Mr Dan Bardon) were among approximately 90 students from across Queensland to participate in the 3 day Conoco-Phillips “Science Experience” program held at Griffith University.

From left: Leilani Weston, Jazmyn Wena, Taylor Takai

 

The Science Experience is a program designed to provide students who have an interest in science with an opportunity to engage in a variety of fascinating science activities under the guidance of qualified scientists. It also offers information on further studies in science, technology and engineering and highlights the range of careers available in this field.

As part of this program, the girls undertook practicals in genetics, chemistry and oral health, received lectures in drug discovery, cancer and infectious disease treatment and travelled to nearby Surfers Paradise to conduct surveys on beach health and offer recommendations for coastal management.

During their stay, the students also visited Bond University, where they met with staff and students connected with the Indigenous support unit. The girls were taken on an extensive tour of the amazing facilities including the impressive Indigenous art collection and given an insight into university life from the perspective of Hannah Duncan, a bubbly young student from Mer who is currently studying Law.

At Bond University with Hannah Duncan (current student) and Narelle Urquhart (Indigenous Support Officer).

Each of the girls finished the week brimming with stories and buzzing with enthusiasm for their future career paths. A special thank you to Laura Harvey and Narelle Urquhart from Bond University, the staff at Griffith University, Taylor’s Mum Lisa and Judy Xavier from the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid City for helping this trip become a reality for the students.

This opportunity aligns with the Rotary Clubs goals of empowering young people to be successful, active and informed citizens. In the lead-up to the trip the girls assisted in the Clubs beach clean-up, clothes pack and fortnightly markets and it is hoped they will continue to look for ways to contribute to their local community.

Rotary Beach Clean-up: Leilani, Taylor and her Mum Lisa giving a helping hand.

If you are interested in becoming involved in our Rotary Clubs activities, please contact our club Membership Director Michael Evans on 0412 074 340.

Sally Pannifex (Education Officer- Rotary Club of Thursday Island)

Over the last few days, once again the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City sponsored an ECOMAN business simulation program in Brisbane’s CBD for students from Yeronga State High School. Twenty students from a mixture of backgrounds managed four competing companies for three days in the Eagle Street premises of the venue provider KPMG. The students’ fulsome thanks underlined how much they had gained from the exercise in understanding business and enterprise. Brisbane Mid-City and earlier Brisbane North have sponsored ECOMAN for 16 consecutive years.

Photo shows the four Chief Executive Officers of the competing companies with, from left, ECOMAN facilitator Tracey Sheehan, Brisbane Mid-City member Collin Myers, KPMG Director Business Development Fred Gwinn, ECOMAN Coordinator Barry Hopf, and ECOMAN facilitator Bob Kelsey.

For More information about Ecoman http://qpec.org.au/ecoman.html

Judy Xavier, President of the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City, visited the Wesley Medical Research BioBank today (Thursday 29 September 2016) to inspect the special equipment that the Club has donated.

The BioBank, now Queensland’s largest such facility, provides researchers with a rapid, customised service to supply human tissue, blood and data.

Welcoming Judy to the BioBank, the Manager Emma Raymond said that the specialised hot air dryer funded by Rotary was already proving its worth in speeding up the process of preparing tissue samples. The time taken to melt the protective wax from samples prior to making them microscope ready has been reduced from eight hours to 12 minutes. At the same time, the quality of each sample fix to the slide has been improved.

The gift from the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City had its genesis in May when Professor Jim Nicklin accepted the club’s invitation to be the guest speaker at a special club meeting to mark Mother’s Day. Professor Nicklin is a well known gynaecological oncologist and researcher at Wesley Medical Research. His talk to Rotary was about research into ovarian cancer and he spoke glowingly about the role of the Wesley Medical Research BioBank. As a result, the club decided to purchase the hot air dryer.

President Judy Xavier (R) with BioBank Manager Emma Raymond (L)  and Club member and former WMR Board Member Collin Myers inspecting the the hot air dryer.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid City gift to the Wesley Medical Research BioBank.

Neil Dickson wants you to sponsor him for sleeping on a couch (you’d think he would do it for nothing, like the rest of us with the TV remote falling from our hands).

As you’d expect, of course, there’s a good cause in Neil’s madness. Last year, he was a SOUPERHERO raising funds for Australians living below the poverty line.

This year, as he explains:

“I've taken on The Couch Project challenge, raising awareness and funds for young people experiencing the ‘hidden’ form of homelessness – ‘couch surfing’."

“It’s unfair that over 44,000 young people under the age of 25 are experiencing homelessness tonight* because home isn’t safe for them."

“The challenge is to sleep on a couch on Friday 16 September. Too easy, right? So, if you help me reach my sponsorship goal of $1,000, I'll willingly sleep on the couch for a week!"

“In sponsoring me, your donation means the Salvos at Youth Outreach Service can give food, blankets, counselling and support to get young people back on their feet."

“Visit my sponsor page at: https://thecouchproject16.everydayhero.com/au/neil" 

*ABS, 2012, Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness 2011

Please consider a donation to Springs of Hope Foundation Through Global Giving as it will be matched 50% by Global Giving if you donate on the site between Australian time 23:00 Wednesday June 15th and tomorrow till 2pm. See details at Great News From Springs Of Hope Foundation and Global Giving Project Donation