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USC helps launch Middle School Excellence Program
Links between the University of the Sunshine Coast and schools throughout Cooloola Shire were strengthened today with the official launch of the Middle School Excellence Program in Gympie.
The program will begin with a creative writing course in Term 1, 2007, offering talented students in Years 6-9 after-school lessons from USC academics. A mathematics course is planned for Term 2 next year.
This program has been developed by the Cooloola Learning and Innovation Initiative. It will be based at James Nash High School’s ICT Hub and will include lectures, workshops, print and visual texts to develop interest and enjoyment in creative writing.
USC academic Jill McGuire will provide creative writing lessons once a week for eight weeks in Term 1 with the aim of developing and extending the students’ potential. Jill is an editor with one of Australia’s largest publishing companies, John Wiley & Sons.
Award-winning children’s author and USC Head of Creative Writing Gary Crew will provide some guest lectures during the eight-week course.
The launch was attended by Education Queensland’s Wide Bay South Executive Director of Schools Karen Howse, USC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill, State Member for Gympie David Gibson and principals from across Cooloola.
James Nash High School principal Darrin Edwards said the program would help overcome the region’s problems of limited access and exposure to post-secondary learning options.
“Our students will be able to see first-hand what opportunities exist beyond high-school learning,’’ he said.
Professor Hill said the program was an important link between USC and the schools in Cooloola Shire and would give students a better idea of what university learning involved and how it would benefit them.
Year 8 James Nash High School student Clare Quinn thanked USC for its involvement with the schools in Cooloola Shire, saying the program was bound to inspire learning.