Working together as a class, students have written and developed their own play, focusing on littering and its impact on animals and the environment.

The story follows two siblings, one of whom litters, resulting in a seagull being injured. The incident sparks an argument before the characters attend a protest. By the end of the play, they recognise the need to make changes and take action to protect the environment and animals.

The Suitcase Series gives students the opportunity to develop their theatre-making skills, collaborate creatively and share their work with students from other schools. The class has developed its play over two to three lessons, building on earlier activities exploring similar styles of theatre.

The students are looking forward to performing in front of an audience alongside students from around 10 other schools. While the prospect is exciting, they also recognise that performing for a wider audience can be a little nerve-racking.

With an early start and a train journey to Melbourne, the students are ready to share their message through drama and encourage others to think about the impact of littering.

Their play highlights an important message: everyone has a role to play in caring for our environment and protecting the animals we share it with.

Learn more about The Suitcase Series at Malthouse Theatre.

Nominated by their teacher, Harrison was selected to participate in the program alongside students from other schools across Victoria. The week provided an opportunity to develop acting skills, explore different aspects of theatre and connect with other young people who share a passion for performing arts.

Throughout the week, participants took part in a range of activities to create an original performance centred on the theme of work. They also had the opportunity to learn from theatre professionals, including a fight choreographer who demonstrated techniques for staging simulated punches and slaps, and a costume designer who shared examples of their costume and set work.

For Harrison, one of the most memorable aspects of the experience was how well the group connected. Being surrounded by like-minded young artists helped reinforce their passion for acting and showed them the value of working alongside others with a shared interest in performance.

One particularly surprising takeaway was how quickly the group developed a show in just one week. The experience highlighted the creative possibilities that can emerge when people have the time and opportunity to focus, collaborate and bring their ideas to life.

Reflecting on the week, Harrison described feeling honoured to have been selected and said the experience had helped them grow as a young performing artist. Meeting others with an equally strong passion for acting also helped them recognise that performing arts offered opportunities to explore beyond their experiences at school.

For students who may be nominated in the future, Harrison encourages them to try their best, be open to meeting others and embrace the opportunity to learn alongside young artists who are all there to develop their skills.

Young Artists Week was a valuable opportunity for Harrison to deepen their interest in acting, discover more about the world of theatre and gain fresh inspiration for their development as a young artist.

Priya Jones performing at last year’s Music Showcase.

Priya was mentored by Carolyn Harris who is a professional flutist for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She also was given the opportunity to play the piccolo alongside her flute over the weekend. They finished off with a concert performing alongside the SSO musicians themselves and conducted by Benjamin Northey. What an amazing experience!

Priya also attended the 46th annual Border Music camp in Albury. What an incredible experience it was to fully immerse herself in music for the entire week! She was able to take on new challenges, make many friendships and really grow as a musician. Priya was honoured to be selected to play the solo opening for a song composed by Andy Aronowich specifically written for the Border Music camp.

Priya was very surprised to learn she won the Hardie achievement award for her ensemble! What a great way to end the school holidays!

Year 9 Students participating in different workshops in Melbourne.

Trade displays from the Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the Army School of Health, the Army School Of Ordinance, Defence Force Field Catering School and the Army School of Transport was well received by the students because they could get hands on with some equipment, participate in some self-defense moves with the Military Police, PT activities with Physical Training Instructors and interactive demonstrations of weapons, weapon simulation systems.

The Students really enjoyed the day and had lots of fun while exploring different career’s in the ADF.

Sloane, Ashlea, Sarah (WMYC)
Lacey, Daniel (Geared for Careers)

Our placings were:

• Champion Junior Photo – Angelina Peirson
• Reserve Champion – Matilda Pisarek

Heat 1:

• 1^st – Matilda Pisarek
• 3^rd – Katelyn Russell
• Highly Commended – Matilda Pisarek

Heat 2:

• 1^st – Angelina Pierson
• 2^nd – Karissa Smith
• 3^rd – Georgia Mutimer
• Highly Commended – Ebony Munro, Angelina Pierson, Karissa Smith

Following the 2019 Wodonga Show Angelia Pierson had her entry judged against the winner from the Tallangatta Show. Congratulations to Angelia who has successfully made it through to the Royal Melbourne Show junior photographic competition, where she will have her artwork judged against the best in the state for 2019.

There will be a group dinner held for the Wodonga and Tallangatta Show Societies on April 10th at the Victoria Hotel, Tallangatta. Angelina will be officially named winner and formally awarded for her work.

Well done to all students that participated in this year’s competition.

Having recently completed a Graduate Diploma in STEM education which Michael focused on Robotics, over the past year Michael has been a local leader in VEX Robotics, coordinating competitions for the North-East region.

This is the third year that the VEX Robotics program has been run at our college and has been welcomed by the students with now more than 70 students involved, the popularity of the program has represented the increase in interest in our Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs offered across our campuses which showcase our well-equipped facilities and staff that are leaders in their field.

Year 8 students complete a 12 month course as part of their Robotics class which focuses on the fundamentals of robotics, completing a series of tasks that form the scaffolding of their future learning in the class, where they learn how to build and code the robot. Then in the second half of the year the students build a competition-ready robot which they then use to compete in a series of competitions which could see the students attend several events in our region and in Melbourne. A group of student attended an event in Canberra this year.

Teams of students represented our College from both campuses throughout the year at many competitions including at a regional, state and national level where they have had great success competing against the country’s best.

Felltimber VEX Robotics Team Ethan Livingston, Kobe Pothan and Jake Foster (absent) with their award winning robot

Michael and the Robotics teachers are committed to improving the program and the way that it is delivered to our cohort, having already designed a new structure which will see every student.

“It’s great to see our students gain confidence in their abilities as they progress throughout the year” Said Michael.

“VEX is an opportunity for these students to work together within a team, having a common goal” Said Michael, “it’s amazing to watch these students grow” Michael added. “There are so many benefits that we’ve seen come along whilst running the program, it’s a no brainer”.

Michael is hoping to continue to grow the programs presence within our region and across our campuses. Congratulations Michael and to the team for this tremendous achievement.

We had over 100 guests representing both campuses on the night and many of the students were generously supported by other staff as well as their friends and families.

A special thanks to the ATL Carrie Gregory, Julie Taylor, Gemma Grace, Michael Rogers, Bianca Collins, Lorna Sherlock, Pete Glover, Kylie Virtue, Will Pleydon, Nishar Neale, Kylie Fortington, Holly Rodway, Michelle Butters, Greg Glasson, Marg Leddin and Katherine Hackett over at Felltimber.

Felltimber VEX Robotics TeamEthan Livingston, Kobe Pothan and Jake Foster (absent) with their award winning robot

Our Felltimber team consisting of Kobe Pothan, Ethan Livingston and Jake Foster received the competition Design Award and were also a finalist for the Teamwork Award as well on the day. The team will now progress to the VEX Worlds competition, now in it’s 11^th year to be held in Louisville Kentucky in early 2019 which will present a new series of challenges which the team at looking forward to.

The competition sees our students research, design, program and test a robot which needs to conform to specific criteria for the competition and be able to complete a series of tasks using both manual control and some stages with autonomy. As part of the process a teams robot could go through several iterations, with each change adding or refining functionality to assist in completing the challenges on the playing field.

We also had teams of students enter into the EDR tournament. They competed well (with one team making it to the finals) and while not receiving any awards, achieved many learning outcomes while overcoming design, programming and engineering challenges with the larger, more complex metal robots.

Our College would also like to congratulate the Huon ‘Girl Powered’ team who were the recipients of the Create Award on the day for their well-built robot. Well done to Gabrielle Knight, Monique Knox, Ky Rolton, Rhea Nicholls and Beth French.

A big congratulations is also in order for our Huon Technology teacher Michael Rogers who received the VEX Australia Nationals Teacher of the Year Award for his hard work and commitment to supporting our students to achieve the best outcomes.

This year’s VEX Australia Nationals competition saw a large number of regional finalists which will move on to compete in the VEX Worlds next year. At our College students are exposed to VEX Robotics through our Robotics elective subject which teaches students to work collaboratively to develop their problem solving, design and programming skills in an environment supported by our industry-leading teachers. The program supports students to develop their ideas and work within their teams to excel in the classroom.