Isabelle Jardine, a Year 11 student from Clayfield College, has been announced as one of the eight winners of the 2018 Premier’s ANZAC Prize who will travel to Villers-Bretonneux, France this month.
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace announced the eight students and two teacher chaperones selected for the 2018 Premier’s ANZAC Prize on Monday, 15 January 2018.
Ms Grace represented Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk when she met with the prize winners at the State Library of Queensland where the students participated in a two-day Young Historians’ Workshop in preparation for their trip to the site of the Western Front this month.
Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity
Jardine and her fellow prize winners will be given a chance to experience the ANZAC tradition firsthand. The students and their teacher chaperones are set to travel to London and the Western Front to visit key sites in Australian war history.
On ANZAC Day, 25 April 2018, they will attend the historic centenary dawn service at the Australian War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France which will allow them to pay their respects during the commemorations. They will also be among the first visitors of the Sir John Monash Museum which will open its doors to visitors on Tuesday, 24 April 2018 just in time for ANZAC Day 2018.
ANZAC Commemoration
“ANZAC”, which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, was the name given to a combined force of First Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Army troops who landed on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula on Sunday, 25th of April, 1915. ANZAC Day is a solemn public remembrance of the anniversary of the landings.
After more than 100 years, the high school students are remembering the bravery and sacrifices made by many Australians and New Zealanders in Gallipoli and on the Western Front.
Premier’s ANZAC Prize
The Queensland Government values the ANZAC tradition and has since sent 96 students and 18 teacher-chaperones to some of the most significant battlefields of the First World War from the first tour in 2013.
In a recent statement, Ms Grace said, “This award has effectively engaged our younger generation in understanding the Anzac tradition and how the Anzac spirit is instilled in the Australian way of life.”
The Queensland Anzac Centenary is also supporting this important initiative to keep the memory of the Australian and New Zealander servicemen and women alive.
Apart from Jardine, other students who won the Premier’s ANZAC Prize includes Fenlan Miller of All Saints Anglican School, Isaac Mabo-Edwards of Pimlico State High School, Harry Packwood of Shalom College, Bundaberg, Jack Frey of St Teresa’s Catholic College, Lillian Ward of Tannum Sands State High School, Shana Coyle of St Monica’s College, Cairns, and Tyla Craven-Griffith of Kirwan State High School.
Travelling with Jardine and the other students are Mrs Jodi Pallett of Tannum Sands State High School, who is the lead chaperone, and Mr Tim McMahon of Christian Outreach College, Toowoomba.