Griffith University students have teamed up with local Indigenous high school students to help them win a trip to Google headquarters.
Three high school students on the Gold Coast, who are part of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), will be selected to travel to Google in Sydney to experience first-hand how games are created.
The opportunity comes as part of a grant of $500,000 awarded through Google Impact Challenge to AIME which hopes to encourage more students to learn and excel in maths and science fields.
AIME is one of four organisations across the nation to receive the Google Impact Challenge grant.
AIME program coordinator for Gold Coast campus Ty Smith said for this particular challenge the 50 participating Year 8 Gold Coast students were required to invent a game focused on making maths and science fun for students.
Those with the most innovative creative ideas will be selected to be presented to Google.
“AIME gives Indigenous students the skills, opportunities, belief and confidence to grow and succeed — this is just another amazing opportunity that we are able to facilitate,” he said.
“We really want to see more students get excited about maths and science and the best way to do this is through engaging learning activities such as creating a game or through the sport of handball as our Year 7’s have been learning.”
Helensvale State High School student Ngapuarata Mator said he will be focusing on science and maths subjects throughout his schooling to achieve his dream of becoming a soundboard maker for movies or a game creator.
“This is pretty exciting, I didn’t think we would get to do such cool things at school,” he said.
Griffith Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice student Rachel Spencer said she was enjoying the challenge of assisting the students to explore their creativity.
“It’s nice to work with others and to help motivate and encourage kids to come to university like I have,” she said.
This year is the first time Griffith has hosted the AIME program, a dynamic educational program established to support Indigenous students through high school and into university, employment or further education at the same rate as all Australian students.