Regional Exchange

The second cohort of the Regional Science Exchange program finished up last week with 13 exchange students leaving JMSS with many new experiences and stories to tell. This time around we had 12 schools participating in the program from all over Country Victoria.

The welcome lunch for the group on Sunday the 16th of July was a great success, with a full house of parents, siblings, and year 10 homestay families ready to dive into life here at JMSS. When asked if it were easy to make friends with their homestay buddies and classmates, all REx students (the six who responded to the check in survey) stated it was “very easy” to make “lots of friends” as “everyone here is so nice” (Go team JMSS!).

The REx students then spent three weeks studying with the rest of our JMSS year 10 students, attending core classes (such as English, maths, science, and issues studies) and electives (such as biotechnology, material science, and medical physics to name a few), and participating in an Extended Experimental Investigation into the effects of different antimicrobial agents on E.coli and S.epidermidis. 

Students found the core classes to be “enjoyable” yet “fast paced”, while the “elective classes [were their] favourite part [of] this exchange”. As “everyone is at the same starting point… [we] don't feel as pressured [to keep up with the content]” - the electives “are challenging but they [get the] mind working…”. 

The students and their buddies also attended the Melbourne Demons vs Adelaide Crows round 19 AFL game at the MCG and had a blast - “nothing beats the experience of being there and watching [in person]”!  Mr Bohni was very happy with the games outcome (Go Dees!), however, one student said that while they “loved the AFL trip, Adelaide should’ve won”! …We will let you decide who is right in this argument.

When asked what were some of the key things they had learnt while at JMSS, there were many content related answers, with students listing topics such as “chemical structure, radiation…”, “new card tricks…”, “organic chemistry, taste buds/receptors…”, “... and genetics”. But there were also some more philosophical answers too. One student said that they learnt that “there is always something new to learn”, and how right they are! There are always new things to learn and fun topics to sink your teeth into, and enjoying this process can really enhance your education experience. 

Part of enjoying the process is having great friends and classmates who love to learn just as much as you do - being part of a team where “everyone is committed to learning and doing their own work”. 

Another key to an excellent education experience is having “...teachers [that] actually like helping people learn [and make an] effort to teach.”  The REx students loved that our JMSS teachers “are actually interested in the content they are teaching” which helps “kids get more engaged” and some even said they would love to take the teachers back to their own school “because they are great.” 

~ Abigail Goff