2007 School Magazine

Mind Power

Mind Power

Future Problem Solving

Athene

students delved into practice problems.

progress to the final rounds this year, each participant has discovered a lot about working under pressure within a time frame, thinking outside the box and most importantly... team work. All of the girls who participated in this activity found it an exciting and challenging experience, and next year promises to be even better! Samantha Luck (11W)

enthusiasm and commitment that they have demonstrated. Indeed, when faced with the lack of a working printer, one assiduous member rewrote her paper in longhand, reflecting the tenacity and laterality that makes membership of Athene so enjoyable. The Year 11s also deserve much praise for their refusal to be intimidated by their older counterparts, with their enthusiasm this year certainly boding well for the continued vitality of the club in 2008. Sarida McLeod (12L) President

Athene is a forum where philosophical discussions are the order of the evening. Senior students from Brisbane Girls Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School, under the benevolent eye of Dr Colwill, Mr Woods and Mr Howes, gathered regularly on designated evenings to delve into deep and meaningful topics in papers that ranged from an interrogation of the prevalence of jargon to euthanasia. The discussions which followed are characterised by passionate exchanges, the airing of oppositional viewpoints, and interesting lateral digressions. At our inaugural meeting The 2007 Debating season has left Brisbane Girls Grammar School with a host of glorious victories, devastating losses, dubious decisions, hilarious quotes and truly memorable moments. Over the season, girls have delivered some fantastic speeches and fired off ego shattering rebuttal that have both impressed high level adjudicators and left oppositions attempting to salvage the remnants of crippled cases. Hours of hard work were reflected in outstanding results. Winning the majority of their preliminary rounds, nine teams from Brisbane Girls Grammar qualified for the final series. The Senior A team reached a challenging and highly memorable semi-final against Brisbane Grammar School, debated in front of a packed theatre of war-crying crowds and ended with a nail-biting split decision. Congratulations must also go to Sarida McLeod (12L) who was selected as one of the four members Debating for the year, we welcomed the principals from our respective

schools, Ms Bell and Mr Short.

The Athene Club itself offers many incidental bonuses: a chance to mix the intellectual with the social; delectable suppers; and a place to demonstrate one’s extensive knowledge on all things Wikipedia. Gatherings this year have also re- visited Athene’s illustrious origins, with meetings being held in the Annie Mackay Room — within the historical surrounds of the original building. The Year 12s this year are to be congratulated both on the consistently high standard of their papers and on the level of of the Queensland debating team, which made it to the quarter finals of the National Schools Debating Championships this year. Fervent campaigning by the cohort has resulted in support for debating this year being a huge success, with enthusiastic crowds beating attendance records at both QGSSSA Cross Country and Head of the River. Both quality and quantity as they say, it was amazing to have supporters clap and cheer as nervous debaters entered classrooms ready to take on their opposition. Seeing the lively faces of Grammar Girls, some with blue stripes painted on their faces and others sporting victory horns, certainly made all the difference. This year also marked the departure of Mrs Smee and the end of her infectiously enthusiastic approach as Debating Co-ordinator. It was another great season for Grammar Debating, revealing highly promising debaters and dedicated supporters.

We were required to do plenty of research into various topics such as Fundraising, Protection of National Treasures and Cultural Prejudice, from which we gained a large amount of knowledge. These weeks of preparation culminated in the final problem about ethnic divisions, and the girls spent two hours closeted with each other discussing the best ways to promote tolerance. Despite the fact that no teams were able to

This year two teams of keenly interested and enthusiastic Grammar Girls were eager to start solving problems set in a futuristic world with as much creativity and ingenuity as possible. Coaches Mrs Bryant and past student Miss Jemima Cowderoy (2005) provided an insight of the competition’s structure before the

Opti-MINDS

Opti-MINDS — a journey of discovery, exploration, growth and ultimate success. We have had a wonderful year in the Opti-MINDS competition. The teams have all exceeded expectations and developed in many areas. Four teams represented the School in the Brisbane North regional finals held in August. The teams had prepared by meeting at least once a week in the lead up to the competition in order to solve their challenges and to rehearse their dramatic skills. The script writing and choreography this year was excellent, as was the thoughtful and innovative solutions that the girls devised. The School had teams that competed in the following categories; Language Literature, Science Engineering, Social Sciences and the Spontaneous Problem Division. All of the groups, first timers and experienced, performed at a high standard. Two teams, one in the Science Engineering and the other in

the Social Sciences category, did extremely well placing first in their division.

Each team also participated in the Spontaneous Problem Division in which they were given a scenario and required to provide a solution in a matter of minutes. The girls were scored on creativity and team work. There was a large amount of positive feedback from the judges who commented on how well the Grammar girls did in this area. The girls were pleased with their performances after working very hard in between juggling other commitments amongst writing their own script and storyline, developing characters, making props and costumes and learning their lines.

The two winning teams went on to represent Brisbane North in the State finals which were held in September. At this round the teams were given a problem to solve in only three hours in which they were required to come up with a solution, script, props and rehearse. Both teams performed with resounding success, winning the State Titles in their divisions. As a result, the girls were invited to represent Queensland in a cultural exchange held on the Gold Coast in November. Mrs Hazel Boltman, Mrs Jenny Winter and Ms Catherine Keogh Co-ordinators

Thanks to Mrs Byrne, our new Debating Co-ordinator, who provided endless support to the teams.

For now, we simply leave you with the wise mantra of a nameless third speaker: ‘Your arguments are wrong, because ours are better.’

Sarida McLeod (12L) and Priya Kevat (12M) Captains

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