More than 400 school students attended Charles Darwin University’s recent Taste of Uni event.
Students from Nightcliff and Dripstone Middle Schools, Kormilda College, St. Joseph’s and St. John’s colleges, Darwin, Katherine and Palmerston high schools, O’Loughlin Catholic College and Xavier CEC Bathurst Island participated in a packed program of events held recently at CDU. The two-day event was designed to give students a flavour of what it is like to go to university.
The Taste of Uni program is an initiative of the Dean of Indigenous Research and Education, Professor MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, and began in 2004. It is designed to facilitate the pathway to a professional career for Indigenous students by encouraging lively and informative activities relating to university courses.
The students, from years 8 to 12, participated in hands-on activities led by CDU staff from a diverse range of courses, including psychology, contemporary music, teaching and education, printmaking, pharmacy, and sport and recreation.
Kevin Clark, from CDU’s School of Law and Business, led students in an interactive quiz based on the format of the TV program, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Students attending the IT session were taught to download game files from the Internet and to install them.
The automotive session, led by Team Leader Brian Sharp, gave students an opportunity to get their hands dirty and change a tyre.
VET lecturer Irena Allen led role play sessions for students interested in learning about CDU’s community services certificate courses.
The Palmerston campus also got involved in providing Top End students a Taste of Uni, with hands-on cookery, hospitality and tourism activities, and land conservation. VET lecturer Andrew Spiers led a practical session about bird watching.
Prominent NT employers exhibited at this year’s event, including NT Government Employment Unit, NT Library, Department of Education, Employment and Tourism, NT Treasury, Group Training Northern Territory, Centrelink, Menzies School of Health Rearch, Skycity Darwin, Energy Resources of Australia, Apprenticeship Centre and the Australian Defence Force.