By XAVIER SMERDON
A LITTLE over two years ago the students from one of Wyndham’s oldest schools were struggling to learn in an environment that included caved-in roofs and dangerous black mould.
But last week Michael Germano, the Director of Science at Wyndham Central College, formerly Galvin Park, proudly showed off the first part of the school’s redevelopment.
The science wing features a state-of-the-art chemistry lab, a biolab, a physics lab and even robotics centre.
It also has a “Marie Curie Discovery Space”, which acts as the centre of the wing and in the future it will have a hands-on bio-dome which will allow students to grow and examine their own unique garden.
Mr Germano first started teaching at the school in 2011, just months before it became known that there had been severe damage to some of the buildings and it was flagged as uninhabitable.
He said the turnaround after the school received $14 million for a rebuild from the State Government had been inspiring to see.
“It’s unbelievable. Just after the building was finished and the kids saw it for the first time one of them turned to me and said that he now knew what it was like to be a rich kid,” Mr Germano said.
“It’s really sad that they haven’t had those kinds of opportunities before but now there are no excuses anymore.”
Mr Germano said the science wing would also have benefits for other schools in the area, with Wyndham Central running education programs for primary schools in the new building.
“I’m very passionate about science and getting the kids excited about science,” he said.
“This building is going to create a lot of opportunities for the kids.”
The rest of the school’s redevelopment is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
