Meet the teacher ‘Making a Difference’ across Queensland

More than 2,000 kilometres separate Ashgrove in Brisbane from Waiben in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait).

But thanks to St Finbarr’s School, Ashgrove Primary Learning Leader and 2026 Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) STEM MAD Teacher of the Year Award recipient Karen Siranovic, that distance now feels a whole lot smaller.

STEM MAD (Make A Difference) is BCE's flagship STEM competition, challenging students to apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to solve real-world problems that ‘Make a Difference.’

While STEM MAD is traditionally designed for BCE students, the City Country Partnership has presented an opportunity for students from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Waiben, St Finbarr's School and St Thomas More College, Sunnybank to work alongside each other in an experience bringing local knowledge, lived experience, and cultural expertise to projects focused on challenges facing communities in Zenadth Kes.

Meeting weekly via Microsoft Teams, students share ideas, test concepts and refine their inventions together. The partnership has also extended beyond the virtual classroom, with St Finbarr’s School students travelling to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Term 2 and again in Term 4, as well as a visit from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School to Brisbane in Term 3.

Guided by Elders, Cultural Knowledge Holders, Rangers, community members, Senior Education Advisors and teachers, they combine STEM learning with Torres Strait Islander knowledges to create solutions that are innovative, culturally informed, and grounded in community need.  

For Karen, the partnership between the three schools is about far more than designing inventions.

"The most rewarding part of this partnership has been seeing students recognise that their ideas can have a genuine impact," Karen said.

"They're not solving hypothetical problems. They're working alongside communities, listening to different perspectives, and designing solutions for challenges that matter to real people.

"Every student brings something valuable to the table. When cultural knowledge, lived experience, and STEM thinking come together, that's when the most meaningful innovation happens."

St Finbarr's School Principal Catherine Connors said what makes Karen's work so significant is that she doesn't just create opportunities for her own students.

"Karen genuinely believes every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, regardless of location,” she said.

"While this partnership began through BCE’s STEM MAD Competition, what Karen has built is much bigger than a competition. 

“She has brought students together from very different communities and helped them see the value in learning from one another.”

Catherine adds the impact of the partnership extends beyond student inventions. 

“Through regular collaboration between schools our teachers have developed greater confidence embedding First Nations perspectives authentically across the curriculum, while students have grown in empathy, problem-solving, cultural understanding, and confidence as learners,” she said.

STEM MAD organiser and BCE Lead Education Advisor Rochelle Smith said Karen is a worthy recipient of BCE’s STEM MAD Teacher of the Year Award.

“Karen is a teacher who consistently goes above and beyond to create opportunities for all young people, whether they're in her classroom, across Brisbane, or in one of Queensland's most remote communities.”

In 2026 Karen was also celebrated as a finalist at the BCE Excellence Awards.

Learn more about the City Country Partnership and the innovative STEM MAD projects helping make a difference in Zenadth Kes here.

For more information about St Finbarr's School, Ashgrove or to enrol click here.

Find a Catholic school near you today! Click here.

Catch a glimpse of St Finbarr’s School, Ashgrove students' trip to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Waiben below...

Image captions: ©Brisbane Catholic Education, St Finbarr's School, Ashgrove (2026).

Main image caption: St Finbarr’s School, Ashgrove Primary Learning Leader and 2026 BCE STEM MAD Teacher of the Year Award recipient Karen Siranovic (centre). ©Brisbane Catholic Education, St Finbarr's School, Ashgrove (2026).