STANSW Science Education News Journal 2019 2019 SEN Vol 68 Issue 1 | Page 10

ASSOCIATION ARTICLES NEWS Welcome your 2019 STANSW Council Members (continued) Councillor Kylie Hurd, Macquarie University: Junior Science Academy. I’m a newcomer to the teaching profession, having recently begun my second career. I started the Jun-ior Science Academy at Macquarie University with a small group of recent graduates, like myself, four years ago. I now coordinate the program every school holidays, for around 500 children each period. The twin aims of the Junior Science Academy are to support pre-service and early career teachers in their science pedagogy, and to enable more children to engage with science. Both aims are being achieved, and I would like to share my insights and perspectives with other teachers through the STANSW. I’m keen to play an active role in STANSW as a representative for primary teachers and early-career teachers. I believe my experiences in the marketing field prior to undertaking teaching, as well as my more recent school-based experience, will prove useful to furthering the aims of STANSW. I also want to share expertise for the benefit of our teaching colleagues and the students we teach. There are many ways to support science teachers at all levels of schools in NSW, and I look forward to doing this with a wider community of learners. Councillor Tanya Riach, Branches Committee, Condobolin High School I currently teach stage 5 science, yr 12 Senior Science and yr 11 physics. I am new to STANSW Council. I have a passion for STEM, literacy and numeracy activities, and different ways to collect data and how to use the data for the future. I am always looking for new hands-on activities and in-quiry-based lessons to boost my students' enthusiasm for learning. I was an attendee of the first STEM-X Academy, and was then invited back as an Alumnist the fol-lowing year. I have hosted Science Assist workshops, and the first regional STEM-X. I was chosen to be part of the 2017 ASTA exchange to Japan. As a rural and remote teacher, I hope to contribute my knowledge of teaching in Western NSW, to bring a new approach to STANSW, to endeavour to share the great work that STANSW does, and to increase the number of members from Western NSW. I believe that teaching is a collaborative process and that through this network of collaboration teaching practice will improve, and teachers will feel more confident, supported and resourced within their classrooms. 10 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 1