sailing to success with surf coast secondary college
Year nine student Stacey Godfrey is the only girl in her systems engineering class, but that doesn’t bother her one bit because, as she puts it, “the subject is really interesting – I love it”.
“It’s been a really fun experience and it’s been good mixing it with the boys.”
With classmates Jack Reither and Daniel Rolfe, Stacey was part of a team who spent a term designing, constructing, testing, and eventually racing a 30 centimetre long, solar-powered polystyrene-foam boat at a recent competition at Melbourne’s Scienceworks.
Coming third overall has qualified the team for the upcoming national titles, which are to be held in Melbourne in late November, while another Surf Coast Secondary College team just missed out after finishing fifth overall.
The competition was open to all students, however Stacey says her systems engineering studies – and those of her teammates – helped immensely in their success, while also increasing her desire to learn more about other energy-efficient technologies in the future.
“As part of the project we had to make a poster about greenhouse gases and why solar energy is good. It’s all about reducing fossil fuels and being more efficient,” she explains.
“Now we’re deciding whether to build another boat for the nationals, maybe we’ll make a new one and test it and then decide.
“It’s been a really fun experience so far and it’s a subject I’ve been interested in for a while. It’s always good to learn more.”
In keeping with that philosophy, next year Stacey will undertake VCE legal studies as the first step in her quest to become a lawyer.
“Everyone says I should be a lawyer because I can be argumentative sometimes. I can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes,” she says with a smile.
“Although with the classes I am taking, including Indonesian, physics, and studio art, I’m keeping my options open – it’s good to have such a variety.”
Outside of school Stacey plays netball “most nights of the week”, which included a grand final appearance for the Torquay Tigers under 15 team last season.
As part of the 2013 Australia Day awards, Stacey was named as the Surf Coast Shire's Young Citizen of the Year. Read the full story here.
“It’s been a really fun experience and it’s been good mixing it with the boys.”
With classmates Jack Reither and Daniel Rolfe, Stacey was part of a team who spent a term designing, constructing, testing, and eventually racing a 30 centimetre long, solar-powered polystyrene-foam boat at a recent competition at Melbourne’s Scienceworks.
Coming third overall has qualified the team for the upcoming national titles, which are to be held in Melbourne in late November, while another Surf Coast Secondary College team just missed out after finishing fifth overall.
The competition was open to all students, however Stacey says her systems engineering studies – and those of her teammates – helped immensely in their success, while also increasing her desire to learn more about other energy-efficient technologies in the future.
“As part of the project we had to make a poster about greenhouse gases and why solar energy is good. It’s all about reducing fossil fuels and being more efficient,” she explains.
“Now we’re deciding whether to build another boat for the nationals, maybe we’ll make a new one and test it and then decide.
“It’s been a really fun experience so far and it’s a subject I’ve been interested in for a while. It’s always good to learn more.”
In keeping with that philosophy, next year Stacey will undertake VCE legal studies as the first step in her quest to become a lawyer.
“Everyone says I should be a lawyer because I can be argumentative sometimes. I can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes,” she says with a smile.
“Although with the classes I am taking, including Indonesian, physics, and studio art, I’m keeping my options open – it’s good to have such a variety.”
Outside of school Stacey plays netball “most nights of the week”, which included a grand final appearance for the Torquay Tigers under 15 team last season.
As part of the 2013 Australia Day awards, Stacey was named as the Surf Coast Shire's Young Citizen of the Year. Read the full story here.
For more information about Surf Coast Secondary College or to book an appointment for a tour of the school call (03) 5261 6633 or email surf.coast.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au
