Celebrating Local Students' Ideas

Published in the Logan Reporter, 24 October 2014.

One of the highlights of my job as your local representative is the time I get to spend with students and teachers at the excellent schools in our community.

It was a real pleasure two weekends ago to be able to join some of our best and brightest kids at the Opti-Minds National Final at UQ.

I spoke in the Parliament this week about the fantastic efforts of some brilliant local students from Crestmead State School, Kingston College and Marsden State High who were at the National Finals.

One of our great local teachers, Anthea Swile, also did a tremendous job as the Brisbane South Regional Director of Opti-Minds, having organised the regional final at Marsden State High School a couple of months ago.

The Opti-Minds competition is a fantastic program which helps encourage creativity, cooperation and innovation in our next generation.

Hundreds of students, teachers, parents, academics and industry experts came together at the National Final to celebrate and recognise the substantial knowledge and ideas of young people.

All of the young people I spoke to on the day had a great time and learned a lot from the experience.

There was a lot to learn from their enthusiasm and ideas as well – with students coming up with plans and programs to tackle problems as diverse as climate change, mental health issues, environmental pests and cyber safety.

I’d encourage all local schools to get involved in the competition next year – I know I’ll be watching with interest to see the innovative ideas our local students come up with.

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