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.

[1] Anastasia, Linh (Year 12), Dr Amy Wilson, Izzy and Sophia (Year 8) at the Hudson Institute, Monash University

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, 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.

The Ovarian Cancer Research Group meet to finalise raffle winners.

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.