Power of STEM

By 2025 one-in-seven jobs will be associated with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and in South Australia there will be a job for you! This is one of the many messages that Year 10 students are hearing throughout the Power of STEM program in schools in South Australia.

In an initiative between Naval Group and Power Community Limited the Power of STEM will reach 15 schools in its first year. The program is linked to the Personal Learning Plan (PLP) curriculum and aims to encourage students to consider education and career pathways in STEM.

Students involved are provided the opportunity to listen to industry experts such as Naval Group, University of Adelaide, SAAB Technologies and players and staff from the Port Adelaide Football Club about career opportunities in South Australia now, and in the future.

Jake, a participant of the program said, “It was great to hear old scholar and PAFC Rookie listed player Martin Frederick talk to us about the science associated with sports performance, preparation and the development of energy systems.”

The program has become an exciting experience for Year 10 students, and staff.

“Having the PAFC - POWER of STEM involved in our recent VISION 2021 day provided our students with the opportunity to connect everyday subjects like maths, science, ICT and electronics to the infinite possibilities for future careers in South Australia’s emerging Defence industry,” said teacher Sandra.

It is important for PCL and its partners to demonstrate career opportunities young people may have never imagined. It is not only the students that will benefit, it will be the South Australian and Australian economy, and the opportunity to create skilled South Australian young people.

“Naval group signed a large contract to build 12 Attack-class submarines for the Australian Navy here in Adelaide. I had no idea about the defence jobs associated with Naval Group.  It was interesting to listen to the engineers talk about the different jobs and also the importance of studying maths and science,” said Thomas.

“Using the lasers in the Adelaide University POWER of STEM session was fun and exciting. I liked experimenting with the beams and working with the others students in my group,” said Chris.

Having Naval Group, SAAB Technologies and University of Adelaide being part of the program allows students to engage with a number of different activities that can cater for most young people’s interests in STEM, facilitated by experts in their fields. The facilitators also talk about their individual pathways to where they are now, and what they would do differently whilst at school. These are important messages for young people to hear of the different pathways people have taken to achieve their goals.

Students also receive a take-home booklet, giving them information about the presenting organisations and career profiles of their employees.

If you are interested in finding out more information about the program or partnership opportunities please direct enquires to Nathan Risitano, Youth Programs Coordinator nrisitano@pafc.com.au

STEM Congress

On the 27^th and 28^th of May, during Reconciliation Week, the Aboriginal Programs team were provided an opportunity to facilitate a workshop with students participating in the Department for Education, STEM Aboriginal Student Congress. The team in conjunction with the Port Adelaide Football Club football department ran an interactive Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workshop.

The team spoke to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students aged 10 - 17 from across South Australia, about the importance of science in sport. The students participated in a heartrate monitor activity to understand how the football department utilises the results from the player’s heartrates to improve performance.

They were also lucky enough to have Charlotte and Matt from the football department demonstrate a jumping exercise to measure the vertical height of the jump and then transform that into information that can be used and easy to understand. Charlotte took the groups through a physical warm up and provided education on the different muscle groups, and how to best activate muscles during a warm up.

Tamia Blackwell from the Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy helped design, develop and run the STEM Congress. In Tamia’s words, “Finding a balance between traditional and contemporary ways of learning allows me to express my culture in a westernized society.” This follows on from the theme of the congress ‘Living in two worlds.’

The Power Community Ltd team are excited for the upcoming STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) camp on 14^th-17^th July. PCL are sponsors of the camp, in collaboration with the Department for Innovation and Skill, and the Smith Family. PCL will be hosting students for an ultimate experience in STEAM at the Port Adelaide Football Club. Students will be involved in designing a membership campaign from start to finish encompassing understanding membership data and demographics to designing a marketing campaign. Then students will be provided a unique insight to the PAFC world of high performance and every element that assists the PAFC athletes to perform each week.  We hope that this experience will be a rewarding one, and one that will inspire future employees of the PAFC.

For further information please direct enquires to Braedon Talbot, Powerful Futures Coordinator, btalbot@pafc.com.au,