Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2007

GRAMMAR GI RLS

National History Challenger Jacinta Livingstone (11R) was recognised as Queensland’s Young Historian of the Year as a result of her entry on John Curtin’s foreign policy in the 2006 National History Challenge. She flew to Canberra in November to receive the award from the Federal Education Minister, Julie Bishop. Jacinta was also awarded joint Year 9 and 10 national winner and the Life and Times of John Curtin prize.

Ms Hennessey, Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s Head of History (2006), said Jacinta’s paper on John Curtin’s foreign policy was insightful and academically rigorous. “She argued a strong case and supported it with detailed historical evidence,” said Ms Hennessey. Jacinta is the third Grammar girl to achieve the Premier’s Young Historian of Queensland Award since the competition began in the late 1990s. “I chose to write about John Curtin and his New Year statement for 1942 ‘Australia looks to America’ because it was such an important turning point for Australia in World War II and for our foreign policy in general. Also, the war in the Pacific was run from General MacArthur’s headquarters right here in Brisbane and I feel we do not know enough about the importance of that as a community. History teaching in Years 9 and 10, is one of the big strengths of Brisbane Girls Grammar School. All young Australians need to know about our nation’s history and about the major events in History so we can understand how they impacted on the world and us. It’s one of those subjects that when you finish the assignment you still want to keep reading about,” said Jacinta. Physics Fanatic

Jacinta Livingstone and the Hon Julie Bishop, MP.

Kathryn Zealand (11R) won a Gold Award for Physics after being placed first in Queensland in the 2006 Australian Physics Olympiad National Qualifying Examinations.

Billiton Science Awards Ceremony held in Melbourne. “I think that knowledge makes you understand and appreciate everything more; I always want to know why. Physics is the study of why things happen, mathematics is the language of physics. I love learning about physics because I find it exciting realising the reasons why a particular phenomenon happens or suddenly realising a symmetry in the world, which wasn’t obvious before. I particularly like the research side of physics because you have to think very hard about why something happens, test your theory, and most of the time something unexpected happens, so you have to go back and try to explain it. It is very exciting when something finally works” said Kathryn. The BHP Billiton Science Awards reward young people who have undertaken practical research projects, which demonstrate innovative approaches and thorough scientific procedures.

Kathryn, as one of the top twenty students in Australia, was invited to attend the Australian Science Olympiads Scholar Training School that was held in Canberra in January. The Training School was Kathryn’s next step in being selected as one of the final five students that form the Australian Team for the Asian Physics Olympiad to be held later this year. “I think that knowledge makes you understand and appreciate everything more; I always want to know why.” Kathryn was also one of the youngest members to be selected to represent Australia last year at the 19th International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT) held in Europe. Her team was awarded the bronze medal. As a result of the research she carried out in the IYPT programme, her work on thermo acoustic instabilities in pipes earned her a finalist position in the BHP Billiton National Science Awards. She was one of the top fifteen entrants in the country and attended the BHP

Photo: Mark Fergus, CSIRO

14 grammar gazette autumn 2007