In the classroom

Four weeks ago as most of the MITS staff came out of quarantine and the students arrived at the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre we were warmly welcomed onto Larrakia Country by Richard Fejo - Chairman of Larrakia Nation.  It was quite a surreal experience given the move to Darwin had happened so quickly and Melbourne seemed a world away.

The MITS classroom quickly took shape and it was evident early on how eager the students were to get back on track with their learning after almost 3 months of online learning.  

In some ways, the 14 days of quarantine had a silver lining, in that it allowed Michael, Isabelle and myself to reflect on a rollercoaster first half of 2020 and create a learning program that will make up for any of the lost time during the MITS Remote Learning Program.  

The challenge has been to stay connected with all the supporters of the MITS classroom but also develop new partnerships in Darwin to ensure we make the Darwin Hub experience pretty special for the students.  With this is mind, the Father Bob Foundation is continuing to support the STEM program with online classes focusing on water pollution which is supporting the Sustainable Communities focus.  

Monash University of Modern Art (MUMA) have adapted their work with us and this week we are commencing an art project with them which is really exciting.  In addition, Isabelle has engaged with the Darwin Festival organisers and our students along with the Alumni students have taken part in a number of art classes as part of the festival.

The move to Darwin has been challenging at times but the way in which Michael, Isabelle, Christine and the MITS class have adapted has been incredible.  There are a raft of opportunities that we plan to take up in order to foster an incredible Darwin Hub experience which we will share over the coming editions of the newsletter.

Ryan Martin