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Mudgee can now boast being home to one of Australia's best and most influential educators.
St Matthews Catholic School teacher, Louise Puslednik was officially crowned Australia's best maths teacher at the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) Choose Maths Awards.
The awards, called the 'Oscars of Australian maths education' by some, recognised a total of 11 teachers and 10 student teams from around Australia at an event in Melbourne.
Judged by a panel of maths education experts, the awards acknowledge educators who 'demonstrate excellence in leadership, creativity and innovation and the engagement and mentoring of colleagues and students to strengthen outcomes for girls in mathematics.'
Louise was presented with the $20,000 Mentoring Girls in Maths award and recognised for her 'powerful contribution to the engagement of girls in mathematics at St Matthews Catholic School and across the Mudgee region.'
My family were very supportive of me doing maths and sciences and I guess that's what I'd like to give to some of these girls.
- Louise Puslednik
The Mudgee Guardian spoke with Louise about her passion for education, her five-year teaching career and engaging a new generation of young women in the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
For her win, Louise was presented with $20,000 'Mentoring Girls in Maths' award for her 'powerful contribution to the engagement of girls in mathematics' at St Matts and across the Mudgee region.
AMSI Schools Program Manager and Choose Maths Project Director, Janine Sprakel said Puslednik was a deserving recipient of this year's top award as a leader, mentor and champion for engagement of girls in maths and contribution to strengthening mathematics education across her region.
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"Louise is a powerhouse mathematics mentor and educator whose innovation, passion, leadership and contributions to regional education have and will continue to transform engagement for the benefit of many," Ms Sprakel said.
Louise spoke of her passion for STEM and what it takes to change the culture around the way we talk about young women and the sciences.
"I think what i love about this is the way that I teach the mathematics is that it has a real-world application, so the students can see the connection between the maths and how it's used. So it's not learning out of a text book, it's actually showing them 'okay, this is how we use statistics in research'...I guess that application of maths," Louise said.
When we think of a scientist or a mathematician, we typically don't think of a female. I guess it's not something were probably conscious of.
"We have a research program here where we work with the University of Sydney. And so that program is getting students in to do breast cancer detection research. So we always make that there are girls within that group so we specifically target young women,"
"I also organise a week where girls from across our diocese - so across the Bathurst region - go away and have a week at the University of Sydney where they spend their time engaged in STEM activities with different academics down there,"
"So I know that as - I grew in up in a rural context as well and my family were very supportive of me doing maths and sciences and so I guess that's what I'd like to give to some of these girls,"
"And I know that sometimes you can sort of be pushed into other areas, and to try and foster that love is I think really, really important."
An April 2019 study said that girls and women are underrepresented in STEM careers in Australia and the issues often begin at an early age.
Australia's talent pool is limited by the underrepresentation of half of Australia's population - girls and women - in STEM education and careers. The causes of poor attraction and retention of girls and women in STEM begin from an early age and compound as progression to more senior careers is made.
A lack of diverse female role models in STEM, whether in the classroom, at work or on the screen, further decreases girls' and women's likelihood of persisting in STEM education and considering STEM as a career option.
Louise said changing this can start by changing the culture around expectations of young women and STEM.
"When we think of a scientist or a mathematician, we typically don't think of a female. I guess it's not something were probably conscious of, but when we talk about scientists and mathematicians we project that person being a male," Louise said.
This work doesn't happen without that partnership with University of Sydney.
"I know in my classroom I did a small experiment where I looked at how many - when I asked questions and students are answering, what proportion of that was girls. And it's largely boys, so I started to implement different strategies in my classrooms so that I'm getting those girls to answer questions and be a little bit more forthright,"
"I think culturally we - the words we use around girls are very different to those around boys so yeah I think that culture does influence where girls see themselves going and what their future looks like."
Justin McCarney, Head of Campus (Secondary) at St Matts said it's great to see this level of recognition given to a teacher at a regional school.
"What it [the award] does is confirm what were doing here is the right trajectory," Justin said.
"We're really proud of our school and what we do here. We're proud of the reflective environment here that we have and that we're alway challenging each other to make sure that our students are at the forefront of everything we do."
Louise said none of it would have been possible without the support of the University of Sydney and St Matts.
"This work doesn't happen without that partnership with University of Sydney," Louise said.
"Professor Patrick Brennan, he comes into school and helps with this partnership, so it wouldn't happen without him and his support of our school and community. We really need to acknowledge that."
