Hi! I’m Harrison

I’m an olive farmer and part time teacher. I finished my Bachelor of Science (Physics) and Teaching double degree in 2017. I’m qualified to teach math, physics and any programming to a year 12 standard. At the end of my university degree, I agreed to do a bit of work on my family olive farm and it hasn’t stopped. I thorougly enjoy teaching and my goal is to show students in rural areas how I use math, science and programming every day whilst working on the farm. 

I grew up on this olive farm in the Mallee region of South Australia where I attended a small country school from R-12. Growing up in a rural area gave me an appreciation for community involvement through playing football and tennis for the local clubs.

My biggest passion is aviation which is manifested into homebuilt remote controlled planes, quadcopters, and flying hang gliders. I also have a strong interest in computer science, photography and music. I’ve run a small photography business for a few years and have played bass guitar in a band for the last 10 years.

My Personal Statement

I’m an optimisitc and determined teacher who believes that anyone can learn math and science if they have the right motiviation. This motivation is intrinsic – it cannot be forced externally through rewards of good grades. I will help students find a purpose for these subjects in their lives so they have the inner drive to excel in their studies. I will strive to develop strong problem solving skills in the students and with their real world understanding, have them finding and solving their own problmes that exist outside a text book.

Professional Knowledge

My teaching areas are math, science and IT from 8-12. I’ve been formally educated in these areas with a Bachelor of Teaching with Bachelor of Science (Physics) in which I took computer science subjects for all of my electives. I started this degree in 2014 but in 2012/2013 I was actually studying software engineering. I have a strong passion for computer science and wish to incorporate it into as much of my teaching as possible. Outside of the formal education I have a wealth of experience in IT work from my side business where I build and manage websites as well as contracted technical support.

Professional Practice

My professional experience so far has been placements in Renmark High School and St Dominics Priory College. In both schools, I was able to quickly build relationships with students and manage classes whilst delivering all my intended content. The school reported me as meeting graduate standards for all Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Before that, I worked at the University of Adelaide for two years as a practical demonstrator in first year computer science subjects. I was also involved in exam marking for these subjects. Outside these placements, I have over a year and a half of TRT experience across three rural schools. 

Professional Engagement

During my time at Renmark and St Dominics Priory College, I worked with the other teachers to develop marking schemas and assessment tasks that enable students to meet and exceed the performance standards. We also did collaborative moderation of student works, discussed student engagement data to come up with strategies to re-engage students. My vision of future professional engagement as a teacher is to improve the quality of math, physics and IT teaching across the profession. I want to get more students into these subjects and I want these subjects to stretch the students’ capabilities.

Other Things I Do

Grow Olives

We moved to district in 1996 and my parents planted their first olive orchard in 1998. There were 7200 trees but the only way to survive the ups and downs in a horticulture business is to go big. In 2008, they planted another 80000 trees. 

My younger brother, father and I run the whole operation on the ground from orchard work, to engineering new equipment, machinery repairs and maintainence to farm wide netowrking. My mother does the bookwork and markets our olive oil.

At the end of my university degree, we spent six months assembling our own olive crushing line in a converted shearing shed so we can now grow and crush our olives all on site.

 

Race Hang Gliders

I’ve been flying hang gliders since 2013 and have been racing them competatively since 2014. Flying without an engine is the greatest feeling of freedom in the world and the racing aspect adds another level of complexity to the flying.

The competitions are 7-10 days long with a different race each day depending on the weather. We fly with a GPS which helps us navigate around waypoints and records our flight for later scoring by a computer. Generally speaking, the fastest person wins the most points for the day and the person with the most points at the end of the competion wins.

In 2017 I reached one of my goals and represented Australia in the 21st World Hang Gliding Championship in Brazil. 

Build FPV Planes & Quads

I had been intersted in building some sort of first person view plane or quad for a few years but didn’t have the motivation or money to get started. After injuring my shoulder and not being able to actually fly for a few months, I had both!

I have built a few mini quadcopters for racing around and a small plane with an autopilot for autotnomous missions with the goal that I’ll build a bigger plane that can autonomously survey the family farm.

I’d love to incorporate more of this technology into schools, particularly with the application of surveying. Students would only need to learn about soldering and basic circuitry before being able to build a machine like these.

Programming

Before I started my Science and Teaching degree, I was previously enrolled in a Software Engineering degree which I really liked. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work full time as a software engineer but still liked the content so I picked more computer science subjects as my electives in my science degree. 

Since leaving university and working back on our family farm, I’ve found plenty of places to incorporate microcontrollers and other custom made software around the place – from a system that manages our olive crushing mill to an irrigation system that synchronizes its program via GPS satellite clocks. 

3D Design and Printing

I’ve been fascinated with 3D printing for years and we are fortunate to live in a time where 3D printers and materials are incredibly cheap and accessible to everyone. In 2019, I purchased an Ender 3 and taught myself how to use Fusion 360. Since then, I’ve been designing and printing all sorts of parts around the house and farm. 

The 3D printer gets a lot of work when it comes to making mounts to interface different things together and and it sees a lot of use making mounts for Arduinos in different places. 

Photography

This actually started out when I was looking for an easy open access subject in year 12 so I could afford more studies to dedicate to math. I never knew I would enjoy it as much as I did.

I don’t often go out looking to take photos but when I go some place, I take my camera and try to capture the best photos I can. I have a small side business of being an event photographer, usually for birthdays and occasionally weddings.

I think my skills could be of use to any school who would like high quality photos of their events.