Great Southern Primary Schools unite for interschool STEM showcase in Katanning

Three schools from the Great Southern converged at St Patrick’s Primary School in Katanning on Thursday, September 14, for an interschool STEM showcase. St Bernard’s, St Joseph’s and St Matthew’s each boasted winning teams and will send their submissions to Perth next month to present their projects at the Catholic Education WA showcase. Should they secure victory in that competition, they will advance to Melbourne for the national showcase. Eager Years 3 and 4 students from St Matthew’s School Narrogin, St Joseph’s College Albany, St Bernard’s School Kojonup and St Patrick’s School Katanning tackled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects that aim to find sustainable solutions to modern day problems. The winning team from St Matthews’ were selected for their “upcycling” initiative that seeks to reuse waste products at home that are destined for landfill. Oscar Hardie, Mia Mercuri, Mercy Matthews and Mackenzie Gordon transformed plastic bottles into money bottles, plastic bags became a stylish dress and shoes became pot plants as a means to enhance how people perceive household waste. St Patrick’s principal Brett Wilkie said the programs were crucial for students’ education as it actively encouraged them to contemplate the importance of sustainability. “In recent years, the network of schools has identified STEM skills as being critical for the future of our students,” Mr Wilkie said. “Students work collaboratively in small groups, over the course of the year, to create a solution to a real-world problem, using the ‘design thinking’ process. “Each group creates a prototype model of their solution to present at the annual showcase. “STEM projects were born to foster these skills.” Catholic Education WA will review each project before awarding a submission to the national showcase.