The Parkes flag will be flying high at the prestigious Moomba Birdman Rally in Melbourne this weekend with 14 local students entering two planes.

Year 12 Engineering Studies students from Parkes High School and Parkes Christian School have been working tirelessly building a flying craft for each school making them the only entries from outside Victoria.

There are some exciting new developments this year with Moomba Birdman Rally allocating schools their own category to compete in, giving students opportunities to be more involved in the competition. Parkes High School will be taking part for the first time this year, while it will be the Parkes Christian School’s fourth time. They won the Flying Class section in 2017 with a distance of 11 metres making it the longest flight of the day.

“The students are excited to try their hand at gaining the title again,” said Parkes Christian School Design and Technology teacher Jason Wynstra.

“Entering the Moomba Birdman Rally has become a fun and exciting way for our Design and Technology students to engage with their classwork in a practical way, with the students now taking the competition very seriously.”

Jason said a major component of the Design and Technology syllabus was problem solving, and the competition was a great opportunity to explore that.

The Birdman Rally is a competition where members of the public build home-made gliders, hang gliders and human-powered aircraft to leap from a four-metre wharf, and compete for distance and entertainment value.

If you would like to support the team to get to the Moomba Birdman Rally, you can by donating at https://birdmanrally.gofundraise.com.au/page/JasonWynstra0

Parents and supervisors of local learner drivers are encouraged to attend a free workshop at Parkes High School on Tuesday, 12th March at 6pm. The two-hour workshop, Helping Learner Drivers Become Safer Drivers, will offer
hands-on advice on how to provide the most effective driving practice for learner drivers.

“The workshop covers the licencing system, how to use the Learner Driver Logbook including the use of digital logbooks, licence conditions for learner and P-plate drivers, the benefits of on-road driving sessions, tips on supervising a learner driver and more,” said Parkes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer,
Melanie Suitor.

Light refreshments will be available during the workshop. Bookings are essential, call Melanie on 6861 2364.

Middleton Public students were entertained by a visiting African choir last week. The 100% Hope Choir from Uganda put on a traditional performance with energetic dancing, excellent singing and loud drumming. Some students were invited to participate in the performance by playing the drums, dressing in traditional clothes and dancing.

Students also had the opportunity to talk with the Ugandan visitors to learn more about their country and lifestyle. The choir is on a tour of Australia raising funds to extend their school. Everyone agreed that it was a highlight of their school year so far and a thoroughly enjoyable morning.

About 50 volunteers in Parkes joined thousands around the country last weekend in what has become the nation’s largest community based environmental event, Clean Up Australia Day.

Last Friday five home schoolers did a clean up of the creek in PAC Park picking up about four black rubbish bags. The Parkes Dragon Boat Club had 14 members join in a clean up of Lake Endeavour collecting eight bags of rubbish and several large pieces before their training session Sunday morning. Another 20 volunteers cleaned up around town on Sunday morning.

notoriously difficult intersection in Parkes will be made safer through a Federal Government grant of over $100,000.
Riverina MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack announced a $102,000 grant for the Clarinda and Currajong Street intersection through the 2019-20 Black Spot.

The funding would go towards creating pedestrian refuges on either side of Clarinda Street, better ramp access, better footpaths, new line markings and improving street lighting.

“This intersection will be much safer to navigate,” said the Deputy Prime Minister at the site on Sunday. Parkes Deputy Mayor Barbara Newton said Council was delighted with the funding.

“We’ve been calling for the money for about 12 months, and plan to start with the improvements as soon as possible.”

She said the improvements would make the intersection much easier to navigate, especially during harvest time, and that it would tie in with the planned upgrade of the main street in Parkes.

According to Michael the Parkes community’s input is critical to identifying key black spots in the electorate. “None of these projects would be delivered without the local community’s vital input and I’d urge and encourage all residents and motorists in the Riverina and Central West to nominate projects for future funding rounds,” he said.

Trundle will be the epicentre of Australian Paragliding next week from 13th to 17th March for the Wings out West Paragliding Competition with 40 pilots from Australia and overseas taking part. On Friday, 15th March the Trundle community is hosting the pilots at a Community Bush Dance at the Trundle Showgrounds from 7:30pm. Contact Jen Kelly on 0417 697 770.