Seventeen senior students from the Northern Territory’s Katherine High School are leaving the bush for the beach this weekend for a six-day business innovation and study tour from Gerroa to Sydney.

The first-of-its-kind trip is the brainchild of Greg Miller, the head of English and Humanities at Katherine High, who moved to the NT from Gerroa when he changed his career from business and finance to teaching.  

“Teachers are very good at telling kids ‘you can do this’ and ‘you can do that’ but I thought how do I put a trip together that actually shows them what's possible?” Greg says.

Through his networks, he created the program which aims to empower students with the confidence to try and provide them with opportunities beyond school.

The year 11 and 12 students will participate in a range of fun activities on our coast, including learning how to surf with Gerroa Surf School and being introduced to the thrill of jet skiing provided by Avcon Projects.

They will attend the AFL Indigenous Round hosted by Kiama Power AFL Club, with four students participating, and visit Kiama High School’s year 11 business class to build relationships.

They will continue their tour to the University of Wollongong and finish their trip in Sydney engaging in leadership and innovation workshops with Deloitte, one of the world’s largest consulting companies.

The students will arrive on Saturday which coincides with Reconciliation Week.

“The timing is pertinent. Our school is 70 per cent Aboriginal so it’s really important to show our students that there is an indigenous culture throughout the country that’s celebrated in lots of different ways,” Greg says.

He hopes the program will also inspire the year 11 students to complete school as there is currently a 24 per cent gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students attaining year 12 completion.

With 30 Katherine High students already on track to finish, the year 11 cohort has the potential to be one of the biggest graduating classes in the school’s history and the largest Aboriginal cohort to complete year 12 in NT.

“There's obviously a lot of funding and effort to get this together but I would love to be able to connect schools between the bush and the beach on a regular basis,” Greg says.

“Thank you to the local supporters, Gerroa Surf School, Avcon Projects and Project Dry Hire for enabling this trip to happen.”