The island is a great experience
both professionally and personally,
great development in your teaching career
as well as learning from the students
and the family's culture, language.
I'd always wanted to work with young indigenous kids.
I'd always wanted to experience community work
as a teacher.
It is, I believe some of the most fulfilling
and important work in education
that you can be doing in remote communities
like Mornington Island.
And also 'cause I just wanted more of an adventure.
So you're somewhere completely different
where I'm really out of my comfort zone,
where I can grow as a professional and as a person.
So the kids here have so much love to give.
It just brings joy every time I come to school
'cause I know at least one or two kids
will give me the biggest hug and the biggest smile,
so yeah.
- Isolation is one of the main challenges
that you'll face on Mornington Island,
being one of the most remote communities in the country.
Putting yourself out and immersing yourself in community,
spending time with students at school,
but also after school,
really getting to know your colleagues.
So at first, I was feeling a little bit isolated
but that soon passed.
There's a really great community here of teachers
and we all band together
and make sure everyone feels included.
We all invite each other into our houses
and cook meals and we've really made a strong community.
Also getting to know the local people.
Every time I walk to the shop,
I'm always greeted as Mr. Max.
I just always feel like I'm wanted
and people are happy to see me.
So you make a lot of great friends
in small communities because you're pretty close.
You live with who you work with,
which sometimes has it challenges
but often, you create lifelong friendships.
Barge day is every Wednesday.
It's probably the most exciting day of the week
'cause that's when all of our online shopping comes
and some of our food deliveries.
Online shopping is so easy here, a bit too easy.
You can definitely get shipping
from a lot of the big retailers.
So the department has supported me to live
on Mornington Island by providing a fantastic house.
Ours is a two bedroom, lovely little place on its own block.
We have plenty of storage with two garages.
My experience is you just have to immerse yourself
in the culture.
So both the traditional culture
and the contemporary culture, like kids here,
they love hip hop and R&B.
- The relationships are key.
Building them with the students
and colleagues and the community
has been yeah,
a very enriching experience.
Learning traditional ways that have been happening
for thousands of years,
they're experiences that I'll cherish
and have for the rest of my life.
That has definitely been a highlight of working and living
in such a culturally rich environment
like Mornington Island.
- I try to link all my learning back
to traditional indigenous culture here on Mornington Island
by linking to the resources,
so that kids find it easier to relate
and understand what I'm talking about.
- It's really great in terms of where it can lead you to
in the future, like myself,
going into the head of department role,
it could also lead you into research
about indigenous students,
as well as it's just a great avenue
to build your teaching skills
and then take that to the next school that you go to.
- The main piece of advice I would give you
is just try new things.
Like I've tried fishing,
I've never fished a day in my life,
tried cultural dancing,
and it's just all part of the experience.
The more you do,
the more value you'll get out of the experience.
- Give it a go.
I think if you are someone that likes a challenge
and open-minded and wanting to grow,
this is the perfect place to do that.
I think having great resilience is something
that would benefit you
but really the rewards outweigh the challenges.
My best advice for anyone wanting to come
and teach here on Mornington Island is definitely
if you are after a challenge, this is the place for you.
- Give it everything you've got,
but also enjoy living there, enjoy the experiences,
'cause I guarantee you'll leave with lifelong memories.
The advice I'd give to people
that are interested in coming remote,
particularly to Mornington Island, is just give it a crack.
Like it's the best experience that I've had
and everyone I talk to loves it here.