Local year 11 student, Megan Telford, from Bishop Druitt College has been selected to attend the National Youth Science Forum to be held in Canberra in January 2010.

 

Megan, who was nominated by the Rotary Club of Bellingen, was one of 432 year 11 students selected from nearly two thousand applicants after an intensive interview process. Applicants were all students with good school results in science who intend to pursue a career in science or engineering and Megan proved to be an outstanding candidate.

 

The National Youth Science Forum permits students to participate in an area that they are passionate about allowing them to meet scientists from several Australian Universities, work in laboratories and to visit facilities like the C.S.I.R.O and the Tidbinbilla Deep Space network as well as participate in lectures, workshops and experiments that are designed to enhance their interest in science. After attending the National Youth Science Forum more than 90% of students go on to enrol in a science or engineering degree at University and 85% continue on to work in a related field. The role of this forum is to cultivate this country’s future scientists.

 

The National Youth Science Forum is made possible by the over 500 Rotary Clubs of Australia in partnership with government and business and by the research institutions that generously host these young budding scientists. The Rotary Club of Bellingen is proud to congratulate Megan Telford on her selection. Megan will be an excellent ambassador for the club, her school and Bellingen and the Rotary Club of Bellingen wishes her well.

On Saturday 25^th July the Rotary Club of Bellingen welcomed a new exchange student from Denmark.

 

Sixteen year old Vigga Laursen arrived at Coffs Harbour airport after a very long flight from her home country and was welcomed by members of the Rotary Club of Bellingen. Since arriving, Vigga has enrolled at Bellingen High in Year 11 and had a brief introduction to our town and now she is looking forward to a very exciting and entertaining 12 months in Australia.

 

On Thursday night Vigga attended the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Bellingen where she was introduced to all the clubs members and their partners. Also attending the meeting was Neville Parsons, the new District Governor of District 9650 on his official visit, and Lasse Hedegaard another Danish exchange student who was hosted by the Rotary Club of Bellingen in 2006-2007, and his family.

 

Lasse is visiting Australia with his sister and parents. The family have already visited Perth, Monkey Mia, Broome, Kakadu, Uluru, Alice Springs and the Gold Coast before arriving in Bellingen so that Lasse could catch up with his former host families and friends before heading to Sydney. Lasse was keen to introduce his family to his Bellingen ‘family’ and has spent the week re-capturing his time here.

 

District Governor, Neville Parsons, presented a talk focusing on the future direction of Rotary and its role in our community. He also praised the Bellingen Club’s commitment to the Youth Exchange Program welcoming Danish student, Vigga Laursen, and extending his good wishes for her stay in Bellingen.