Teach Learn Grow: Opening Minds and Winning Hearts

Published in the Kununurra Sun Edition 15 November/December 2023

Read more from the Kununurra Sun here.

On a chilly 5-degree morning at Perth Airport in June, a group of eight volunteers from Perth met up to board a flight to Kununurra. A group of almost strangers, we had met only once before our trip and were unsure of what the following week would bring. Prior to travelling over 2000km to the Kimberley, some of us joked the furthest north we had been was Joondalup (a 25-minute drive north of Perth). Nothing could have prepared us for the week ahead nor the way we were warmly welcomed by students and the open-arm approach of the Wyndham community.

In June and November of each year, Teach Learn Grow (TLG) sends over 200 volunteers on to 20 schools across Western Australia and New South Wales. TLG helps to address the barriers preventing rural, regional and remote students from reaching their potential. The generous sponsors at Boab Metals, Panoramic Resources and Horizon Power have allowed TLG to deliver its Rural Program.

The Rural Program aims to improve educational achievement and attitudes towards school by partnering students from regional schools with university student volunteers. The volunteers provide one-on-one tutoring and share their value of and enthusiasm for education while tailoring lessons to the individual child’s needs.

On our first day of tutoring, we were immediately welcomed by the students, and the week soon became full of memorable moments. Most of us anticipated visiting Wyndham District High School to tutor students solely in maths but did not expect the reciprocal learning that would result. From the students in Wyndham, we learned how to play better basketball; what it means to offer friendship so freely; respect, how to stand firm in the courage of yourself and your ambitions, fair play and teamwork.

“The way TLG has the capacity to open eyes to new possibilities is incredible, both for the volunteers who get to learn about regional life and education and for the kids, who get to learn about the world outside of their town,” said one volunteer. “It is always so genuinely heartwarming to see a kid light up when someone tells them that a dream they have could be a possibility, or they get to meet a young person studying in a field that they hope to enter.”

The staff at Wyndham DHS as well as community members were generous and welcoming everywhere we went. Upon our arrival, Sharna the year 5 and 6 teacher kindly showed us around the school and told us of the myriad events occurring throughout the week with which we could be involved. Sharna provided us with endless support, including touring us around Wyndham visiting local historical sites.

Dinner on the mudflats was particularly special. During this time, we really got to know Wyndham school staff members and locals, and their experience of rural life and experienced a lightbulb moment of how liberating a rural life could be. We were inspired by the staff of Wyndham school’s passion and kindness. Our TLG experience was filled with hospitality, support and understanding and we appreciated the mentoring and advice.

Even further, Jofarn the lead coordinator at Wyndham Youth Aboriginal Corporation went above and beyond to accommodate a group of visitors who’d never been to Wyndham and would only be there for a week. She engaged us in after-school activities and generously took us to local sites. Jofarn’s dedication to the young people of Wyndham helped shape our tutoring sessions and defined our time in the Kimberley.

This immersion into the community brought us closer to the school and students, tutoring sessions soon became loud, passionate and electric which empowered learning on a much richer scale.

We were enamoured by Wyndham, a tucked away town so confident in its character and history, as well as inspired by the fortitude of a life so rural and remote, something beyond which most can imagine, having spent a life in metropolitan areas. We are entirely grateful to Boab Metals, Panoramic Resources and Horizon Power for providing the opportunity and to the community for the friendship we found and the memories that we get to keep.

Written by Chenoa Green – a volunteer on the Winter 2023 Rural Program at Wyndham District High School.