General News
26 March, 2026
Students shine in STEM event
Nearly 300 junior and senior students across the Wimmera region tested their STEM skills in the two-day Science and Engineering Challenge, held in the Alan Heard Pavilion at the Wimmera Events Centre.
The Rotary Club of Horsham East partnered with the University of Newcastle to organise the event, which brought together students from Holy Trinity Lutheran College Horsham, Horsham College, Saint Brigid’s, Warracknabeal Secondary College, Nhill College, Kaniva College, and St Arnaud College on March 19 and 20.
Organising committee chairperson Tom Gallagher said four teams and about 90 students joined the secondary competition on Thursday, while close to 200 students across seven teams took part on the second day.
“The first day was for secondary students, which is called the science challenge,” he said.
“The 2nd day is called a discovery day, which is based on the grade 5 and 6 students to get their hands on activities.”
Students travelled from a broad area to join the event.
“The schools attended were from Kaniva, Nhill, Horsham and the surrounding districts, and that’s how broad it was,” he said.
“A lot of their Horsham schools did participate.”
Mr Gallagher said St Brigid’s won the senior section, while Horsham Lutheran College took out the primary division.
Organisers again faced the task of encouraging schools to participate, but this year they received stronger community backing.
“It’s always been a challenge to get the school to participate, but this year was no different,” Mr Gallagher said.
“But this year we had a lot more support with volunteers, which is a great outcome.”
He said the event relied on a wide network of supporters, including volunteers from GWM, CMA, Lions, Friends of Rotary and three Rotary clubs.
Mr Gallagher thanked everyone who helped stage the event and said organisers were already looking ahead to next year.
“We thank everyone who was involved in making the event very successful and look forward to them being involved next year,” he said.
He also encouraged students to consider joining future events, particularly those interested in STEM pathways beyond school.
“I encourage any student who is looking at a STEM program for university to participate, as it’s all about hands-on learning and your ability to solve problems while you’re in a group,” Mr Gallagher said.