Marking Teachabout’s third program since its foundation in 2011, a group of volunteer students from »ÆÉ«app and the University of Melbourne visited Minyerri for the 29 day Wet Season program in January.
‘The children in Minyerri have a large thirst for knowledge and hold great hopes and dreams,’ the Teachabout team said. ‘Our aim is to help these children become confident young adults who are proud of their culture.’
Keeping to the organisation’s ethos, the program this year focused on making education fun, engaging and empowering for students, most of who were in grades five and six.
Maintaining a prime focus on numeracy and literacy, activities were based around culture, science, art, music, and sport.
Emphasising educational and cultural based learning, everything in the program linked learning to everyday experiences. One example of this was relating scientific experiments to whirlpools the children recognised from local billabongs.
Cultural activities run by local activity leaders educated the children about bilingual literacy, bush medicine and the local ecosystems, fostering the value of two-way learning.
Other highlights included sports day, creating a community mural and the ‘big race around Minyerri’ scavenger hunt.
‘Teachabout makes us proud of ourselves,’ local student Alwyn said, when asked what he thought of Teachabout’s program.
‘The key to it all is encouraging the children every step of the way and squeezing in as much educational value and fun as possible!’ Georgina Long (3rd year Arts) explained.
Teachabout is expanding its program in Minyerri again this year, planning two school holiday programs to run in July.
