Top SA students in the SACE 2020

Despite the gloom of 2020, SA’s five “perfect” SACE students can be revealed, along with an impressive list of top achievers.

Chris Russell and Rachel Moore

6 min read

December 16, 2020 - 1:28PM

Oliver Kleinig, Shreyans Sinhal, Martina Theodorakakos, Paras Stefanopoulos and Giovanni Elias. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

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Five young South Australians have created a perfect picture in a year that was anything but perfect.

Giovanni Elias, Oliver Kleinig, Shreyans Sinhal, Paras Stefanopoulos and Martina Theodorakos shone brightly in these dark times, recording A+ results in at least five subjects including the research project for their South Australian Certificate of Education.

“These five remarkable students achieved the pinnacle of academic achievement,” SACE Board chief executive Martin Westwell said.

Their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank scores were 99.9 or higher.

Prof Westwell added that “success looks different for every student” and achievements of those who overcame personal barriers should be celebrated equally with the high flyers.

The class of 2020 had “stared down the challenge of COVID-19”, he said.

“They learnt so much – not just about the subjects in the SACE but (about) themselves, who they are, what they’re capable of and how they can adapt to change,” he said.

“And how they can be changemakers themselves.”

Giovanni, 18, from Rostrevor College, said he had to be flexible because of the pandemic disruptions and disciplined to fit in soccer for Modbury Jets and a social life.

Giovanni Elias, Rostrevor College

He allocated tight blocks of time for study.

“When you limit yourself to a certain amount of time you get done what you need to do rather than procrastinating,” he said.

For his research project he looked at “superbugs resistant to antibiotics and the emerging threat they pose to our society”.

He hopes to study medicine at Flinders.

Oliver, 17, from St Peter’s College, was captain of Farr house and had to meet the challenge of motivating others when they couldn’t physically meet.

Oliver Kleinig, St Peter’s College

Oliver researched using IT to help socially disengaged older people, inspired by his grandparents who migrated from Iran. He taught them to Skype with family which “made them so much happier”.

He plays water polo and runs cross country.

“And I did debating which is super fun,” he said

Oliver has applied to Adelaide to study medicine.

Shreyans, 18, also from St Peter’s and aiming to study medicine, said he felt lucky to have been in SA where COVID-19 restrictions hadn’t been too bad.

Shreyans Sinhal, St Peter’s College

“And our teachers really helped out, they set up zoom immediately and held extra sessions,” he said.

A basketballer and tennis player, Shreyans researched bariatric surgery for adolescents for his project, giving him an insight into his chosen career.

Paras, 18, from St Michael’s College, does computer programming as a hobby – which dovetailed with his strong science subject mix and research project into what extent artificial intelligence will influence the future.

Paras Stefanopoulos, St Michaels College

“The answer to that is complex, there’s no right or wrong” he said.

“We have a long way to go but once the ball starts rolling it’ll grow rapidly.”

He has applied to study advanced computer science at Adelaide.

Martina, 18, from Walford Anglican School for Girls, has applied to study law and advanced economics at Adelaide or Sydney.

Martina Theodorakakos, Walford Anglican School for Girls

At stressful times, she remained focused by not thinking about the ATAR, rather “thinking about what’s next in life”.

Martina worked at a bakery and found time for family and friends.

“I wasn’t cooped up in my room,” she said.

She did her research project on the organ transplant system because her “biggest supporter”, her dad, John, had needed a kidney transplant but endured a wait of more than two years.

“I want to make changes in a lot of areas where females aren’t well represented,” she said.

“I’m quite a confident person but I do find a lot of girls shy away and leave it to the boys when they should be up there.”

Both Martina and Giovanni were in Adelaide University’s Headstart scholarship program, reading legal studies and forensic science respectively.

“The Headstart program is a unique opportunity for students to experience what university is all about before they finish school,” deputy vice-chancellor Jennie Shaw said.

The students work alongside first year uni students, and results can count toward the ATAR.

Of all the students who enrolled in enough subjects to be eligible to complete their South Australian Certificate of Education this year, 98.3 per cent, or 15,119 students, were successful.

In fact, that proportion was a smidgen better than the 15,276 - representing 98 per cent of eligible students - who attained their SACE last year, before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19.

Of those who started the SACE in Year 10 in 2018 with the Personal Learning Plan subject, 76.3 per cent have gained their certificate two years on.

That is only slightly down from the Class of 2019’s figure of 78.5 per cent.

Education Minister John Gardner said SA should be proud of the students who had demonstrated “hard work, intelligence and industry”.

“They have seen the pandemic hit them in the face but they have got up and got their SACE,” he said.

“This Class of 2020 who missed out on some of those rites of passage … things everyone takes for granted, have learnt and experienced things.

“They will have stories to tell their children and grandchildren about their SACE that in many ways will be more memorable than a Schoolies or … other regular things.”

Blayne O'Loughlin, Roma Mitchell Secondary College.

Meenakshi Pramod Nair, Roma Mitchell Secondary College.

The SACE Board highlighted students including Roma Mitchell Secondary College’s Blayne O’Loughlin, 17, who juggled study with pursuit of a football career via the SA Aboriginal Secondary Training Academy, and his classmate Meenakshi Nair, 17, a prefect who helped others with mental health issues.

When COVID-19 hit in March, David Olijnyk, 18, decided to immediately self-isolate at home, to protect two family members who have an auto-immune disease.

For the next two months, he tuned in to his classes at Australian Science and Mathematics School remotely, never missing a lesson.

“It’s made me more resilient and shown my cohort that you can persevere through anything,” the Hallett Cove teen said.

David also studied a tertiary preparation course at Flinders University while completing his SACE. He hopes to work in electronics design.

David Olijnyk, Australian Science and Mathematics School; Tonya Frank, Mark Oliphant College; with daughter Violet; and Jessica Bottcher, Roma Mitchell Secondary College. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Mark Oliphant College graduate Tonya Frank, 17, who gave birth to daughter Violet three months ago, is proud to say she finished Year 12.

“When I was back in the Northern Territory, I was in and out of school, not sure if I was going to finish Year 12,” she said.

“I got the point where I wanted to change my life because things were not going well. I moved to Adelaide in 2018 with my dad and just told myself I had to do it.”

She said Violet was the main reason she completed her SACE.

“Having her, I knew I needed to change my life around,” Tonya said.

She will study for an arts diploma at UniSA next year, and wants to pursue a career in social work.

Jessica, 18, was in Year 11 at Roma Mitchell Secondary College in 2019 when complications from glandular fever forced her to miss three months of school.

She said going into Year 12 on the back of missing so much school was stressful and made her feel “out of my league”.

“I thought ‘I should not be here, I should go and do something else’,” she said.

Now she is proud of her achievements. “I’m really excited,” she said. “My mum was crying on the phone.”

Jessica, who hopes to study film and television at UniSA next year, said 2020 was “surprisingly a nice pause”.

“It made me think about what was actually important to me,” she said.