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When we first met as a group for Stand for Something, I had no idea what we might end up with, but I knew I wanted to make a difference in the area of cancer research. When Dr Katherine Putnam first suggested we could create a Travel Grant I was really surprised. The thought of doing something that big all by ourselves seemed very daunting to me. Nonetheless, we decided it would be our goal to raise between $2000 and $3000. We did exactly that – and more! Together we devised an action plan. Everyone in the group would go and collect donations from (very generous) shops and businesses in the local area. The results were amazing – by sending a few well-worded emails I was able to collect over $1000 worth of goods, and as a group we collected over $5000 worth of raffle prizes!
Stand for Something
Changing Lives This year, students at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School have been finding new and innovative ways to give back to the community by targeting causes close to their hearts. As part of the “Stand for Something” initiative, a group of students from Years 8-12 have been fundraising to support Ovarian Cancer, and to date they’ve raised over $2000 from a raffle supported by local businesses. Instead of simply writing a cheque to hand over to an organisation, the students have employed the expertise of Senior School science teacher Dr Katherine Putnam, who has a background in scientific research, to act as their mentor. The group felt there was a need to develop outstanding Australian scientists to improve the prevention and treatment of Ovarian Cancer. They established a Travel Award to fund a promising female PhD student who specialises in Ovarian Cancer research, to attend an international conference to present their research. Dr Putnam explains that “attending international conferences contributes to a scientists’ research profile and it's important for a PhD student to develop communication skills and keep abreast of the most recent advances in their field”. Cancer research can take years of quiet determination and perseverance, with many failures along the way. In acknowledging this,
But that was only the first step… From there, we designed a poster and advertised our raffle with the prizes we collected. After selling all our tickets, we had more than $2000 to use for our grant. At the same time, Dr Putnam and our board of student judges set up our own web page and received applicants for the women’s Travel Grant. We reviewed them in September and selected our winner! The experience has been very rewarding. Not only have we raised money, but we’re supporting female scientists and raising awareness for Ovarian Cancer. All in all, the Ovarian Cancer Research Group was definitely something worth standing for!
the students chose to support the careers of young research scientists, in the hope of opening the door to scientific breakthroughs in the future. Dr Putnam explains how the Travel Award lays the groundwork for success. “The Travel Award stipulates that the PhD student must meet with leading international researchers to help establish collaborations for future research projects and potential international postdoctoral positions.” In this way, Dr Putnam hopes the Award will help to make a positive impact on the career of the PhD student. After a rigorous application process, Dr Amy Wilson, from the Hudson Institute at Monash University, was awarded the 2019 Travel Award.
Izzy Year 8
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The Stand for Something initiative is a student-led campaign to bring about positive change in the School community. Students from Years 8-12 have chosen to raise awareness and bring about behavioural change in a number of causes that are important to them. In 2019, these causes have included issues ranging from Domestic Violence Awareness, Reducing Plastic Pollution to an Anti-Bullying Campaign and Cancer Research.
[1] Anastasia, Linh (Year 12), Dr Amy Wilson, Izzy and Sophia (Year 8) at the Hudson Institute, Monash University [2] The Ovarian Cancer Research Group meet to finalise raffle winners.
Lux Mea
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