Murrumbidgee Regional High School

Excellence and Innovation

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MRHS Awarded for Outstanding School Initiative

ANZSEA

In September, Murrumbidgee Regional High School received the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding School Initiative at the 2021 Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence. The accolade was awarded for the schools’ and specifically Ian Preston’s involvement in setting up the Australia New Zealand STEM Education Alliance (ANZSEA).

The award-winning ANZSEA is a mammoth affair. Through hard work and determination, Ian managed to network the NSW Virtual STEM Academy with their Queensland, Northern Territory and New Zealand counterparts, providing students across the Tasman with amazing STEM opportunities from leaders in the field.

Students at MRHS are able to reap the benefits of ANZSEA with access to lessons, workshops and exercises from around the world, such as the smart cities program that ran earlier this year. Students also have access to international STEM experts such as Stephen Chey, a former IBM cybersecurity specialist, Dillon Furell from the Townsville Smart City Program, Mark Lehmann from Splunk, Courtney Lousley from Smart Cities New Zealand and Nathaniel Bavinton the Innovation and Futures Manager of the City of Newcastle.

“ANSZEA is an opportunity for our students to collaborate with like-minded students across Australia and internationally” explains Ian Preston, the MRHS program supervisor.

Mr Preston was also awarded the Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for his work both with ANZSEA and for generally providing cutting-edge STEM opportunities to the region. The awards are further proof that MRHS is leading the way in STEM education.