STUDENTS PAY TRIBUTE
TWO
Pimlico State High School students are proudly representing the youth of North Queensland at Anzac Day commemorative services on the Western Front today.
Riley Smithers and Chase Pontifex ( pictured above at Menin Gate) said they felt honoured to have been selected for the trip and were looking forward to paying their respects to those who had fought for the freedom they enjoyed today.
The Year 11 students will both attend a poignant Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Australian National Memorial in VillersBretonneux, France today.
Riley was selected as the Queensland winner of the 2017 Simpson Prize – one of the nation’s top history honours.
The Year 11 student travelled with the prize winners from each state to the Western Front in France last week and is representing Queensland at Anzac Day commemorative services in France and Belgium.
The Simpson Prize is a history competition that focuses on the legacy of Anzac. The competition encourages students to focus on the significance of Anzac Day and to consider what Anzac Day means to them and to Australia.
Riley’s entry was chosen from more than 1000 students who submitted an essay or audiovisual presentation.
Education and Training Minister Simon Birmingham said all of the national winners had shown themselves to be excellent young historians with a detailed, well researched and sophisticated understanding of what happened on the Western Front over a hundred years ago. “The Simpson Prize is an important way to ensure our nation’s history is recognised by current Year 9 and 10 students, and future generations,” Mr Birmingham said.
Meanwhile, Chase was one of eight Queensland students who last year were awarded the Premier’s Anzac Prize for 2017.
Chase and his fellow award recipients are also on the Western Front this week, attending the dawn service at VillersBretonneux this morning.