General News
23 September, 2019
Students shine during school year
WITH the school year coming to an end, Mareeba State High School took a moment to reflect and commemorate outstanding academic prowess over the school year.
WITH the school year coming to an end, Mareeba State High School took a moment to reflect and commemorate outstanding academic prowess over the school year.
Special guests and parents were invited to attend an extended weekly parade at the MSHS Hall with 60 plus students receiving praise and awards for their accomplishments.
Students who competed in Australia wide competitions and received credits, distinctions and high distinctions were celebrated – brain bee students, lions youth of the year participants, chess players, even students who participated in residential camps were also celebrated.
The students, parents and special guests were then treated to a morning tea held in the library.
Gifted and Talented coordinator Stefanie Prizmic was extremely proud of the students.
“It’s important to recognise these achievements and the students because it shows the rest of the students that if you put your mind to something and you apply for something you can do great things,” she said.
“The students who have done these programs and participated in these extracurricular activities have achieved great results.
“It’s also important to include the special guests and the parents because the parents want to celebrate with their children as well.”
Mrs Prizmic believes that a parent’s understanding and involvement towards their child’s success can further improve their schooling lives and grades.
“Students need to see that their parents value education,” she said.
“Their child’s success is also a reflection on the parents themselves and their support.
“If their parents didn’t support them then the students wouldn’t be able to do these things.”
MSHS Principal Scott Whybird was unable to attend the parade but spoke glowingly at the morning tea.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who has turned up today,” he said.
“It really fills your soul when you start seeing the number of students that go up on parade.
“I know that Mrs Prizmic is being very active in her role after Mrs Ellicott.”
Mr Whybird has had experience at 10 different schools and claims that Mareeba State High School preforms above and beyond at the opportunities it is granted.
“What happens at a lot of schools is that they don’t look at the academic abilities of students,” he said.
“And that’s something that I think is really important about Mareeba High.
“I am very passionate about extracurricular activities, the fact that we have people that are interested in doing chess competitions and things like that, I think that’s magnificent.”
Mr Whybird spoke about the nature of school, stating that it was very ‘inclusive’
“I can’t tell you how proud I am, because this school is one that does so many fantastic things and encourages so many things,” he said.
“Quite often you can hear a lot of the negative things, and I guarantee that negatives are always going to be a part of what happens.
“But if you walk around the school at any time, you will see magnificent students doing magnificent things with very supportive teachers and parents.”
