West Brisbane’s most influential school students of 2020
The best of west Brisbane’s high achieving students have been revealed. We’ve highlighted 11 young people who’ve achieved amazing things already and have the brightest of futures ahead of them. SEE WHO MADE THE LIST
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Brisbane’s westside is a hothouse for academic and sporting talent, but the region is also packed full of high school students making their mark in everything from flying to singing, and from dance to writing.
WEST BRISBANE’S TOP 30 SCHOOL SPORT STARS
Elliot Clayton, Brisbane Boys’ College
Year 7 BBC student Elliot Clayton knew straight away what his Year 6 Passion Project needed to be.
His sister, Sophie, suffered a stroke when she was just four years old.
Since then it has become his goal to make more young people and children stroke aware, including what they can do to save lives.
His innovative take on the F.A.S.T. awareness campaign has even been shared in Parliament.
He launched the project last year for Stroke Awareness Day.
Elliot created an awareness poster and F.A.S.T hero cards which explained the F.A.S.T. message to all Junior School classes.
The acronym stands for: (F) has their face dropped; (A) can they lift both arms?; (S) is their speech slurred and do they understand you?; (T) Call 000, time is critical.
Ameya Jaurigue, Brigidine College
Currently in Year 10, Ameya is a United Nations Youth Student Ambassador and a passionate advocate for children’s rights, climate and environmental action. She also speaks out against racism and bullying.
A member of Brigidine’s Model United Nations Club, last year she was a United Nations Voice of the Youth state finalist in the Evatt Trophy Competition.
The competition, which attracts hundreds of entrants, engages high school students in world affairs and issues through the debating of mock Security Council resolutions, from the position of an assigned country.
“After debating our first resolution, we were given another two resolutions to debate covering topics such as civilian casualties and the conflict in Syria,” she said.
Ameya and another Brigidine student were among the five entrants selected to compete in the national finals next year.
Ameya is interested in studying geopolitics after high school and hopes to become a diplomat.
Mia Crawford, St Peters Lutheran College
The Year 12 student grew up in Hong Kong where her father flew for Cathay Pacific.
“I’ve always been around planes. After coming to Australia in 2017 I joined the air force cadets,’’ she said.
She then won a scholarship to help pay for flying lessons and now has logged 20 hours in the air.
“I have already gone solo, but I still have one more exam before my final test for the (recreational pilot’s) license,’’ she said.
“I’d like to fly in the military and hope this will show I’m keen, but even if I don’t get in I want to fly commercial aircraft or even become an instructor at a flying school.’’
Axielle Doddridge, St Peters Lutheran College
Remember this name, because one day the Year 12 student may well be a star on the stage, the big screen or even a familiar voice on TV ads.
Axielle already has done some acting work and voiceovers and hopes to pursue her dream to study acting at an Australian university, or even at Canadian or American acting schools.
“I’ve always loved it. My father works in oil and gas, so we’ve moved across the country every two or three years and acting has been the one constant in my life,’’ she said.
“I did a theatre residency week at Stuartholme School last year and played a main role in a 2018 community Children’s Theatre musical.
“I won runner-up for Queensland Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights award and last year I became part of the Year 11 Young Artists Performance Ensemble at (QTC).’’
Axielle is back again with the Year 12 Young Artists Performance Ensemble this year at QTC.
She is currently rehearsing an upcoming lead role for a short film.
Meg Williams, Indooroopilly State High School
The 16-year-old Indooroopilly State High School talent wowed the school in the lead role of Scaramouche in its musical We Will Rock You.
As well as performing in the school’s first Night at the PDT musical theatre showcase this year, Meg was also accepted into the 2020 Queensland Theatre’s Young Artists ensemble.
This prestigious and selective program enables motivated, passionate and talented young artists to develop their skills at the state’s flagship theatre company.
During the year-long program, participants will train with the country’s finest theatre professionals, see the pick of shows from the mainstage season, and engage in a variety of performance opportunities.
Meg has always loved drama, starting in primary school, but only in recent years added singing to her repertoire.
She has her sights set on a career in musical theatre and hopes to get into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, regarded as the leader in musical theatre in the country.
Lilly Meldrum, Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology
The Kenmore 12-year-old is not just an academic whiz, gaining entry to the elite Toowong-based QASMT, she is also one of Australia’s best young snooker players.
Earlier this year Lilly won a swag of national junior titles in pool and snooker.
Due to COVID there have been no major snooker tournaments since then, but Lilly has excelled in pool playing in many open women’s tournaments.
She was the winner of the under 18’s girls Southern Queensland tournament and runner up for the Southern Queensland women’s open tournament, beating two Australian teams players to get to the final.
Lilly has entered both the Queensland pool junior championships and open women’s pool championships, scheduled for later this year.
Evelyn Dekker/Amy Elkomos, Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology
The talented pair recently won prestigious Peter Doherty Awards, which are named after the Queensland-born Nobel prize winner.
Both Year 12 science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students, they had to demonstrate a commitment to deep learning in STEM that goes beyond the school curriculum and also have a well-developed plan to pursue a STEM pathway beyond school.
Evelyn and Amy are both QASMT Science Ambassadors.
Evelyn presented her biomedical research at an International Science Fair in Singapore last year.
She has a passion for animals and would like to become a vet and do animal research.
Amy hopes to be on the front lines of medical practice and research, particularly cancer.
She also aspired to one day set up clinics offering free medical care for vulnerable people.
Amy has done volunteer work with the Childhood Cancer Foundation and Uplift Homeless Street Service.
Tom Perissinotto, Ambrose Treacy College
The ATC College Captain is an outstanding student, flagged as College Dux, but just as importantly in the Catholic school’s eyes he has been very active in fundraising and supporting local charities.
At the start of the year, before lockdown, he travelled to India as part of the school’s India immersion program.
While there, students supported the charity Friends of Mithra which works with disabled children in care homes.
“It was an amazing experience, so when I got home I wanted to help out and got in contact with Friends of Mithra,’’ he said.
Tom held a sold-out fundraiser at the Regal Twin cinema in Graceville to raise money for the Indian charity, but COVID-19 has since put a hold on his work with them.
He has won early acceptance at Australian National University for a bachelor of philosophy.
Another option was to study maths/science at the University of Queensland.
Ben Roden-Cohen, Marist College Ashgrove
Although no one in his family is a journalist, Year 12 Marist student Ben Roden-Cohen has his heart set on a writing career.
He recently won the Independent Education Union of Australia Literary Award for nonfiction for a well-argued article on “cancel culture’’, which has reinforced his ambitions to make a living out of writing.
“I wanted to write about the defacing of Winston Churchill’s statue and included quotes from (George Orwell’s book) 1984 as I felt the historical ignorance underpinning these incidents are damaging to us as a society,’’ Ben said.
He wants to study western civilisation at the University of Queensland and one day work in journalism or write historical prose.
Imogen Fraser, Stuartholme School
Being an all-rounder helped the Year 12 student win early acceptance into the Australian National University on a full scholarship, where she will be studying international security.
The early acceptance program takes into account a range of leadership and extra-curricular activities as well as academic excellence.
Imogen has demonstrated those in abundance. She plays water polo, was a Lions Youth of the Year zone finalist, is the Stuartholme School captain and volunteered for the Sony Foundation, which runs respite camps for disabled children who are cared for by high school students.
“I’m interested in international security because I have an uncle in Canberra who is a diplomat and has held all sorts of awesome jobs,’’ she said.
“I think it will be a growth area and offers a lot of possibilities.’’
Ava Hookway, Stuartholme School
Ava has also won early acceptance into ANU and will be studying a bachelor of political science.
She became interested in politics because of the national debate on asylum seekers and in recent times has protested at the Kangaroo Point detention centre.
She has helped out practically as well, including doing free tutoring for refugees at Yeronga State High School.
“Seeing our country violate refugee rights so much made me want to do what I can to help, protesting or helping people out,’’ she said.
As well as great Year 11 results, her 13 years playing hockey and coaching younger players also helped her win the coveted ANU early acceptance.
She hoped to become a diplomat or become involved in policy writing or other fields where she could make a difference to society.