Trinity Catholic College’s Indigenous Student Club
Trinity Catholic College’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students’ club, ‘Midgee’, have introduced a fortnightly Indigenous newsletter to communicate with the wider Trinity community about ATSI events, local indigenous history and Midgee student achievement.
The College introduced Midgee seven years ago when the four current ATSI students chose to name the club after the Wiradjuri word for lightning bolt to ‘shake the ground and light the sky’.
Today Trinity supports 30 ATSI students from a broad spectrum of mobs, clans and nations.
The Midgee newsletter, ‘Baaywang’, aims to help students learn about their heritage and provide insight for Indigenous students’ friends and supporters who have an interest in First Peoples’ cultures.
Contact Teacher for Aboriginal Education, Bev McGreevy said that the introduction of the newsletter is important for many reasons and she is thankful for the support she has received from the College who encourage the school community to learn about ATSI culture.
“The newsletter is a focus for all our Indigenous students and families, it provides information about our events, and it allows our Indigenous students to practise journalism skills,” she said.
NRL Canberra Raiders player and Ngunnuwal man Justin Church regularly visits the College to assist club members with CV writing, career planning and community involvement, in an effort to help students transition smoothly to life after school.
Twenty-five year old land rights lawyer and regular feature on ABC’s The Drum, Geoffrey Winters, is the official mentor for Midgee.
Indigenous Captain for 2019 Ryley Knight said, “I’m very excited to represent the Indigenous community and to further the Midgee group over the next year alongside Sophia.”