Shahni Wellington

May 7, 2024 | newcastle.edu.au | Shahni Wellington

If you were to ask current students at Menindee Central School what they wanted to be when they grow up, you’d get a wide range of answers. Veterinarians, rappers, doctors, professional football players and even dolphin trainers, would appear on the list – just to name a few. However, according to locals from the remote community in far-west NSW, around 110km south-east of Broken Hill, aspirations from this particular cohort are being spruiked for the very first time.

Jul 28, 2023 | newcastle.edu.au | Shahni Wellington

Sitting on the banks of the Ourimbah campus yarning circle, Wangaaypuwan and Wiradjuri man, Dr Jesse Hodgetts, sings with a smile alongside his nana, Anita Selwyn Shipp. The two share a harmony as she taps along to the beat of the clapping boomerangs. “Jacky Jacky was a smart young fella…”It’s a short, joyful melody. Anita, a proud Wiradjuri woman, quips how her dad would sing it, recalling deep in her memory as a child growing up in Dubbo in the state’s west.