I first encountered STEM Punk through an invitation from Fiona Holmstrom to contribute to ‘The Future Learning Magazine’ about Makerspaces, technology, and books. Our relationship has continued for many years. While working at St Aidan’s, my teams had two very successful years competing in STEM Punk’s Innovative Sports Competition, which I have documented here and here.
During one of these events, I met Chris Buswell, the Head of Education for STEM Punk. Chris visited St Aidan’s with teachers from Paradise College, PNG. I was excited to meet these teachers, having taught in Honiara, Solomon Islands, for four years! We connected through our enthusiasm for engaging students with meaningful real-life issues that could be tackled with the assistance of the amazing technology available to students. 
After my retirement from teaching, Chris invited me to be part of the team at STEM Punk occasionally. I was delighted to travel to regional Victoria to assist with workshops, run workshops in Ipswich, and work with the teachers from Paradise College.
This week, I was fortunate to work with the dedicated and motivating educator Elanna Diwell, another STEM Punk educator, and with the teachers from PNG. I created a few resources to demonstrate simple hands-on construction that supports STEM. The artifacts involved simple machine principles with a theme of PNG, focusing on major exports, culture, and locations within PNG!
The workshop was fun and practical, utilizing Makey Makey, Minecraft, and reviewing ways of introducing a STEM program across a school.
Two days later, we attended The Spark Conference, where STEM Punk was a silver sponsor, to deliver workshops and exhibit a few of the amazing activities available for STEM development within schools.
I was excited to reconnect with many fabulous past colleagues and friends: Allyson Starky, Brett Salakas, Damien Kee, and Adrian Bertolini.
It has been great to still be involved in exciting our young people with STEM projects!
