THE Royal Australian Navy (RAN) recently hosted three students and one chaperone from St Martin’s Lutheran College after the school had won the experience through the Navy Emerging Technicians Award competition.
As part of this prize, the group was invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Western Australia to the HMAS Stirling from June 8 to 9 in 2022.
At the location, they participated in an immersive experience which focused on career pathways and the many technical roles the Navy had to offer.
St Martin’s conducted an expression of interest process selecting two Year 11 students and one Year 12 student to participate.
Spanning across two days, the students, Ebony Bott, Lara Scanlon and Petah Wood, along with the College Careers Counsellor Linda Polomka were provided with a variety of experiences which showcased the different aspects of life and work in the RAN.
They had the privilege of attending a dinner with serving members, participating in a base tour and the opportunity to speak with some of RAN’s best and brightest as they went about their daily routines.
The students were also given a session on weapons and training scenarios, where they learnt valuable firefighting skills.
A highlight of the trip was a tour HMAS Perth where they were able to talk with a range of RAN personnel working in a variety of serving roles.
Year 11 student Ebony Bott said she really benefitted from the opportunity and said she enjoyed the experience while learning a lot she had not known beforehand.
“I’m happy I got to see all the different roles and career paths that are needed and I’m very interested in the possibility of the Navy as a career,“ Ms Bott said.
College career counsellor Linda Polomka, who chaperoned the three students said the strong and immersive nature of the experience allowed the students to experience first-hand the many different aspects of day-to-day life in the Navy with a particular focus on STEM related careers, specifically electronics and robotics.
Winning this competition also meant that the College was awarded with a ‘Makeblock Ultimate 2.0’ robotics lesson pack, which included a Navy developed enquiry learning activity based on autonomous vehicles in maritime environments.
Up to 10 different programmable robots can be made with the kit which will challenge students to create increasingly complex, functional robots using advanced coding and electronics skills.
