In Burnie, great minds march alike

THE graduates of tomorrow lined up with their adult peers yesterday as they led the University of Tasmania Town and Gown procession in Burnie.

Among them were 41 Children’s University graduates from Burnie’s Montello Primary School, which has set a Tasmanian record for the highest number of graduates.

There too were 18 of the 20 members from West Coast schools. The Children’s University was launched on the West Coast this year.

After the parade, the students from Mountain Heights School, Zeehan Primary, Strahan Primary and St Joseph’s Catholic School Queenstown attended their own graduation ceremony at the Burnie Arts and Function

Centre. Five students from St Joseph’s will also be the first Children’s University Tasmania graduates from a Catholic school.

Children’s University Tasmania helps develop children into adaptable, lifelong learners by providing quality learning activities outside the classroom, and thereby builds bridges to employment and higher education.

The program – which is offered by the Peter Underwood Centre at the University of Tasmania – has close to 900 active members in 42 schools around the state.

The program was extended to 10 schools in the North-West with grant assistance from the Tasmanian Community Fund and this year it has outgrown the capacity of a single graduation in the region. The inaugural Devonport graduation was held on September 17.