“On behalf of the NYSF I would like to acknowledge the work of the lecturers, lab visit hosts and tour providers – their contribution to the success of the program is significant.”
This year the National Youth Science Forum’s (NYSF) Year 12 Program was bigger than ever with the addition of a third session in Brisbane for the very first time. Nearly 600 students attended the 12-day program held over three sessions – two in Canberra at The Australian National University (ANU) and a third at The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane.
Alongside this program two sessions of the National Science Teachers Summer School (NSTSS) were held, one each in Canberra and Brisbane.
What many don’t see is the huge logistical effort that goes on behind the scenes to make the program happen as well as the organisations and volunteers who donate their time and talent to give the students a memorable experience.
Over the course of January there were over 300 individual lab visits, site tours, special lectures and STEM activities, not to mention the hundreds of Rotarians that donated their time to select the students to attend – i.e. a lot of people were involved!
To acknowledge the contribution of organisations and individuals that assist during the January programs – both the NYSF Year 12 Program and the NSTSS, the NYSF held a thank you morning tea last week.
At the event NYSF Chair, Andrew Metcalfe AO, thanked individuals and organisations involved in delivering the two programs.
“On behalf of the NYSF I would like to acknowledge the work of the lecturers, lab visit hosts and tour providers – their contribution to the success of the program is significant.”
“I would also like to thank Rotary – we estimate 20,000 hours a year is contributed by Rotary all over Australia from fielding initial inquiries to helping with travel in January,” Andrew said.
The NYSF surveyed the 2018 students not long after they returned home, 80% of them completed their survey – indicating a high level of engagement but most importantly when asked if they would recommend the program to others they gave an average 9.8 rating out of ten, a testament to the quality of the content in the program!
For the partners, organisations and volunteers that were not able to attend the morning tea the NYSF would like to thank you again.
Applications for the 2019 Year 12 Program are now open – to find out more go to www.nysf.edu.au