Recent Student Achievements 2015 2014

Recent Student Achievements 2015 FEBRUARY 
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Penrith High School have a record number of Youth Parliament Representatives: Georgia Wilson‐Williams, Ben Medveczky, Pailey Wang, Deaundre Espejo, Priyanka Srithar, Adithy Mula, Victoria Hospodaryk, Sachin Kapoor, Brindha Srinivas, April De Haan and Tess Jones Deaundre Espejo, Georgia Wilson‐Williams, Celeste Cheung and Simone Tsang have been chosen from over 200 students to have their original song used for a promotional film for The Foundation of Young Australians Lachlan Penninkilampi and Clare Fox were selected to go on tour overseas with the Performing Arts Unit Ensemble, The Symphonic Wind Orchestra 2014 DECEMBER 
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Maxwell Duignan received the highest honour in NSW Sport ‐ a Combined High Schools Sporting Blue for Rowing. Max is the NSW single scull champion, winning several regattas this year Marley Young was recognised for his outstanding performances in Athletics; he is the CHS record holder for Shot Put in six age divisions and a CHS medal winner in Shot Put and Discus Madeleine Fox was recognised with the award of a Recognition Certificate for her achievements in the Sydney West Basketball team from 2010 – 2014 Deborah Lombard and Mark Foley have had their works chosen for ArtExpress, the showcase exhibition of the best works from the 2014 Visual Arts HSC course. Deborah’s work will be shown at The Armoury, Sydney Olympic Park and The Margaret Whitlam Galleries at the University of Western Sydney. Mark’s work will be shown at the Bega Regional Gallery Andrew Parker and Jeshurun Rajadurai were given a special award by Sydney Transport staff at a special ceremony after coming to the assistance of an elderly passenger who had collapsed, staying with the victim until medical support arrived Jennifer Kang was awarded 2nd prize in the Design an Ad competition, continuing our long list of winners over many years NOVEMBER 
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Madeleine Kenny represented Penrith High at the Lions Youth of the Year, giving an engaging speech on her experiences in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Rahul Menon received the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute School Science Award Taylor Wright and Max Duignan presented stories of their epic journey along the Kokoda Trail at the Penrith RSL Club after completing this arduous challenge Rafit Bhuyan and Antoni Dimitriadis were ‘Urban Crew’ dance performers at the Schools Spectacular Jennifer Tang’s stunning artwork was accepted as an exhibit in Operation Art at the Art Gallery of NSW, after which her work will hang on the walls of the Children’s Hospital Westmead during 2015. Grace Faulder, Vaishnavi Maheshwari, Divvya Thanabalasingam and Amber Vella were declared Regional Champions in the Metropolitan Cut after their Debating Teams won against James Ruse and Parramatta High Schools. OCTOBER 
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Yating Huang won the ICAS Medal for Mathematics from the University of NSW. Yating was placed first in this examination in NSW and the ACT. This is the first time a student from Penrith has won this award. She was presented with her award at a function for High Achievers at the UNSW Grace Shalders was awarded the Minister’s Award for Excellence Joumana Shead travelled to Sanda City, Japan, as the Blue Mountains Youth Ambassador Katherine Gellini’s Critical Analysis research project on “How Drama can be used as a therapy in the treatment of Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder in returning servicemen and women” was retained by the BOTES for possible inclusion in Onstage Sivanthee Bhahirathan organised a High School Transition Program for Year 6 students from Penrith Public School involving interagency support from Headspace Lachlan Penninkilampi organised English tutoring for students in essay writing from teaching staff and peer tutors within the school Apurva Kesari achieved a Gold Duke of Edinburgh award Liam Holt was selected to represent Western Sydney Region at the Junior State Debating Competition ‐ the fourth year in a row that Penrith High has had a student chosen for the JSDC Phillip Lay was selected in the Sydney West Tennis team, competing at the NSW Tennis Championships Deaundre Espejo, Simnone Tsang, Celeste Cheung and Philaretos Stylianides were featured soloists at the Penrith Valley Festival Our Choir, Concert Band and Stage Band were featured in the Penrith Valley Festival Matthew Ramirez, Deaundre Espejo, Sachin Kapoor, Darren Jadraque, Anthony Nguyen and John Maddock participated in the Regional Boys Vocal Workshop James Newbold was awarded the A.Mus.A diploma for his performance on guitar 
Philaretos Stylianides and Deaundre Espejo were asked to sing the National Anthem at the Australian Nationals at the Eastern Creek Dragway at the official opening SEPTEMBER 
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Jodee Vega of Year 9 was selected to represent NSW at the Australian Badminton Championships in Launceston, Tasmania, competing in the U15 team for the Val Nesbitt Trophy Grace Faulder of Year 8 was selected as a participant at the YMCA NSW Junior Parliament program, learning about the legal and parliamentary processes of NSW Nripesh Ahuja of Year 10 was selected for part of the HSC Drama Exam benchmarking process, performing in front of 70 HSC Drama markers to help set the standard for the HSC marking operation The following students’ group HSC Drama work has been nominated for OnStage (best of HSC Drama 2014): Maria Domina Augustine, Chris Chew, Mitchell Donnan, Katherine Gellini, Nikhil Wakankar The following students had their individual performances nominated for OnStage: Maria Domina Augustine, Eleni Gabrielides, Jonas Thomson and Nikhil Wakankar David Medveczky of Year 12 had his Music 2 and Music Extension work nominated for Encore (best of HSC Music 2014) Marley Young won a CHS medal for first place in Shot Put at the CHS athletics Nikhil Wakankar placed 7th in the Triple Jump at CHS athletics ‐ Alexandra Williams, Gabriel Alvarez and Dinesh Ketheeswararajah all had their personal best performances Liam Holt was selected to represent Western Sydney Region at the Junior State Debating Competition AUGUST 
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Jessica Hwang of Year 10 was selected to shadow an Executive from the State Office of the Department of Education and Communities for two days Tess Jones reached the regional finals of the Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award Antoni Dimitriadis was accepted into the Urban Dance Crew (hip hop) for Schools Spectacular JULY 
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Matthew Ramirez won the Medic Foundation’s Elizabeth H. Blackburn Western Sydney Scholarship Daniel Lane received special commendation for the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Rahul Menon won a Public Education Foundation Scholarship and was a top 10 finalist in the Brain Been Competition 
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Our Year 11 Metro Debating Team (simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Lachlan Penninkilampi and Devansh Shah) won their zone rounds undefeated and moved on to the Regional final Our Year 12 Debating Team (Tyrone Floro, Kate Gellini, Liam Luangrathrajasombat and Ben Gethin‐Damon were runners up in the Premier’s Debating Championship The new Year 7 SRC Representatives for 2014 – 2015 are Divinia Eather, Rishabh Jain, Aryan Dutt and Tommy Kwon Calum Vancuylenburg was selected to attend the Y20 Summit, the premier youth forum for the G20 Conference held during the holidays Christina Moelau of Year 12 was recently selected to receive the Chifley Volunteers Award for 2014 JUNE 
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Seven of our senior students attended a Leadership Conference with guest speaker Ben Roberts‐Smith VC, they were: Deaundre Espejo, Tyrone Floro, Cassandra Galea, Victoria Hospodaryk, Jonas Thomson, Andrew Wallace and Rhyan Zeschke Our student geographers performed at a very high level in the Australian Geography Competition, achieving 40 High Distinctions, 39 Distinctions and 40 Credits School Captains 2014, Grace Shalders and Jonas Thomson received recognition at a Civic Reception for Secondary School Leaders held by Penrith City Council School Captains for 2015 announced: Girls’ Captain – Simone Ferreira; Boys’ Captain – Philaretos Stylianides; Girls’ Vice Captain – Tithi Roy; Boys’ Vice Captain – Ilhamulhaq Hatami Grace Shalders received a recognition award from the Mayor of Penrith Justin Liang, Denise Fung, Yating Huang and Emann‐Ray Arago represented the school in Japan MAY 
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Simone Ferreira chosen to attend the UBS Women’s Leadership Academy Teresa Ho invited to attend the UBS Finance Academy for 2014 PHS Choir students and two instrumentalists (Lachlan Penninkilampi on trumpet and Clare Fox on clarinet) performed as part of ‘In Concert’ Patrick Chen was awarded a diploma (the A Mus A) for piano PHS Knockout Table Tennis team of Smrithi Karmakonda, Mihir Joshi, Nikhil Nanganath, Saransh Rola and Brian Peng achieved second place at the recent Met West Regional Carnival Grace Shalders received the Rotary Recognition of Youth Award Grace Shalders also organised a team to participate in the Relay for Life event to raise money for cancer research The following students spoke at the Rotary Recognition of Youth Awards: Lylapearl Appel, Deaundre Espejo, Sachin Kapoor, Jeshuran Rajadurai, Matthew Ramirez, Sam Shahrestani, Priyanka Srithar and Georgia Wilson‐Williams 
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Gabriel Alvarez was selected to play in the State Basketball Championships Pailey Wang successful in his application to be involved in the YMCA Youth Parliament Louise Zhang came fourth in the 100m backstroke at the CHS Swimming Carnival Serena Abrahams and Cayla Nicholson represented Sydney West at the State Bowls Tournament APRIL 
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Manoj Majji placed first in the University of Sydney Gifted and Talented test. He is now eligible to undertake their G & T Program Jack Dahl, Year 10, also accepted into the University of Sydney Gifted and Talented Program Max Duignan came sixth in Australia in the U/19s single scull and third in the double scull at the National Rowing Championships Sukhmahil Dhaliwal and Ben Gethin‐Damon selected to compete at the State Hockey Championships MARCH 
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Taylor Clarke, Year 10, participated in the United Nations State Youth Conference Jonas Thomson, Year 12, and Tasfia Kabir and Amber Walker, both of Year 10, successfully auditioned for the 2014 NSW Public Schools Drama Company James Pattinson represented the school and NSW at the Australian Constitutional Convention in Canberra Sam Shahrestani was awarded the UNSW Computing Prize Kashish Christian, Maninder Singh and Andrea Xia excelled as part of the PHS Chess Team, who won the Inter‐School Challenge Max Duignan is the CHS Champion, winning The Head of the River in the single scull – by a massive 30 seconds! Simone Ferreira, Year 11, invited to attend the UBS Young Women’s Leadership Academy at The Women’s College, Sydney University FEBRUARY 
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2013 Max Duignan (16 years old) won the U/19’s schoolboys’ title at the State Championships Lylapearl Appel, Matthew Ramirez, Ashlee Gardner, Georgia Wilson‐Williams and Priyanka Srithar have been selected to attend Youth Parliament Wafa Khan won the NSW Art Gallery ‘Artwrite’ Competition Wanda Kuai, Year 8, won the Footpath Library National Poetry Competition Valerie Udan, Year 10, second in the Blue Mountains Gazette ‘Design an Ad’ competition Daisy Feng, Year 9, third in the Penrith Star ‘Design an Ad’ competition DECEMBER 
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Michael Elliott and Marley Young received Achievement Awards at the Sydney West Sport Awards for their success in Athletics Holly Wilson was awarded a ‘Blue’ for her excellence in cricket Mrs Maxine McNally, our Sports Organiser, was recognised with a State Award for ‘Excellent Contribution to Sport’ ‐ the first of this type of award to be issued Matthew Ramirez and Rahul Menon of Year 10 was awarded the Medich Foundation’s Elizabeth H Blackburn Western Sydney Scholarship for 2014, also receiving a computer and a professional mentor in an area related to medicine or medical science Outgoing School Captain, Grace White, received the Australian national University’s Centenary Scholarship NOVEMBER 
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Rachel Gibbons, Year 12, received the Order of Australia’s highest award, the John Lincoln Community Service Award. This was presented by the Governor at Government House Our students achieved 15 High Distinctions, 136 Distinctions and over 200 Credits in the ICAS Mathematics Competition (from 390 entries) Penrith High achieved a ranking in the top 25% of schools in the Mathematics Olympiads: six Year 7 students and nine Year 8 students being placed in the top 10% of students internationally; eighteen Year 7 and sixteen Year 8 students being placed in the top 25% of students internationally OCTOBER 
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Matthew Ramirez represented PHS and the Filipino‐Australian community at the Mulicultural Leaders Day at NSW Parliament Aaron Tong received first place in NSW in the Australian Geography Competition Nicolas Tjoelker achieved at the highest level in playing the pipe organ, passing the L Mus exam for organ with a Distinction, becoming the youngest person in history to achieve this Grace Shalders and Jordan Ruchalski successfully completed the Kokoda Track in the holidays Nathan Wong won a gold medal in the Badminton Val Nesbitt Trophy Event Jodee Vega won a silver medal in the Badminton Val Nesbitt Trophy Event, also winning the doubles in the U/15 National Championships Jonathon Green was one of the top 9.4% of the State to attend the University of Sydney’s Gifted and Talented Talent Discovery program Grace Shalders rode a 200km stretch of the Mornington Peninsula to raise money for cancer research and care 22 of our Year 10 students participated in the State finals of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge 9 of our students represented PHS at the Inaugural YMCA NSW Junior Parliament SEPTEMBER 
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Lylapearl Appel successfully applied for the Junior Youth Parliament Michael Elliott and James Wilson competed in Tasmania as part of the NSW champion cross country team Joshua Irawan received a prize for High Distinction in the Australian Maths competition (76 students gained a Distinction and 139 students gained a Credit) Our Chess Team (Bryce Ashby, Kashish Christian, David Downes, Sachin Kapoor and Ivan Koudashev) are now the NSW Inter‐School Chess Champions PHS had some great results in the recent CHS Athletics: o Marley Young ‐ 1st in Shotput (15.49m) and 2nd in Discus (42.53m) o Michael Elliott ‐ 2nd in 1500m and third in 3000m o Nathan Reeves ‐ 3rd in Shotput o James Wilson ‐ 4th in 3000m o Kelsey McKinnon ‐ 10th in High Jump o Victoria Hospodaryk ‐ 12th in 1500m o Alexandra Williams ‐ 11th in 15yrs Triple Jump, 14th in 14yrs Long Jump and 15th in 14yrs High Jump o Cayla Nicholson ‐ 16th in High Jump o Our 17yrs boys’ relay team (Ishmam Masud, Mankirat Sandhu, Tiimothy Tisseverasinghe and Mihir Wagle) came 12th in the Preliminaries The following students had their group HSC Drama work nominated for OnStage (the best of HSC Drama 2013): Natalie Buckett, Morgana De Jonge, Ben Mitchell, Kush Sood and Grace White). Natalie Buckett also had her individual performance nominated Our Year 11 Drama class has been selected to perform at the State Drama Festival PHS Year 10 Debating Team (Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Devansh Shah and Lachlan Penninkilampi) won their Zone final after successfully winning their Regional Semi Final debate against Glenwood High School Simone Ferreira has been selected to represent Western Sydney Region in the Junior State Debating Championships AUGUST 
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Our Junior Chess team defeated Girraween High School in the semi‐final of the Interschool chess competition Cassandra Galea will represent in water polo at the CHS carnival Several of our students completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition PHS students participated in the combined choir and instrumental ensembles for the PULSE concert held at The Opera House 
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Lachlan Penninkilampi, Deaundre Espejo and Philaretos Stylianides were featured soloists in the Stage Band, Concert Band, String Ensemble and Choir at the PULSE concert at The Opera House Deaundre Espejo has been accepted into the next stage of the Talent Development Project PHS Year 10 Debating Team (Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Devansh Shah and Lachlan Penninkilampi) won their Zone final after successfully winning their quarter final debate against Colo High School. Natalie Buckett was the runner‐up in the Sydney Morning Herald Plain Speaking Competition. This is a state‐wide competition, with only the most outstanding public speakers, so this is a stunning result Natalie Buckett, Michael Elliot, Grace White and Ross Penninkilampi were outstanding in contesting the State final of the Premier’s Debating challenge. As runner‐up in this prestigious competition they acquitted themselves well and brought great pride to themselves and the school The Year 12 Drama students showcased their HSC performances and projects to parents Our Drama students performed at the Joan Sutherland Centre Our choir was part of the large contingent that contributed to the success of PULSE at the Opera House JUNE / JULY 
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Simone Ferreira of Year 10 achieved first place in Australia in the Australian History. Erine Concepcion of Year 8 was also placed first in NSW Apurva Kesari and Matthew Ramirez took part in the 'Director for a Day' program Kiran Sathyan of Year 12 received a PWC cadetship for 2014 Deborah Lombard of Year 11 successfully gained entry into the Australian Art Institute Natalie Buckett continues to excel in debating and public speaking. Natalie has been selected in the State Public Schools Debating Team for the second year and has made the final of the Sydney Morning Herald Plain English Speaking competition Ashim Kapila and Sondarya Krishnan have been awarded a UBS Finance Scholarship. Ashim and Sondarya undertook a week's residential course at Sydney University in the holidays Our Year 12 school leaders ran a very successful Political Summit in the last week of Term 2. This was well attended by our students and leaders from other high schools Simone Ferreira received a St George Bank Scholarship and spent a week at their corporate headquarters in the holidays Phillip Lay has been selected to represent the CHS tennis team Michael Elliott and James Wilson came second and third respectively in the CHS Cross Country Max Duignan continues his achievements in rowing. Max has received a 2013 Youth Development award from the NSW Union of Rowers The Year 7 Junior Representative Council (JRC) held a successful team building Olympics at the end of Term 
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Grace Shalders and Jordan Ruchalski of Year 11 have been selected to undertake the Kokoda Track Riley Callan will represent at the Australian Fencing Championships MAY 
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Liam Holt, Muntaser Mahmud, Anthony Nguyen, Nafiz Khan, Daniel Lane, Simon So and Luke Lau took part in the World’s Greatest Shave Karrie Benz, Ashlee Gardner and Marzuq Shah represented the school at the Model United Nations Assembly. The students represented India and received a Highly Commended for their involvement as well as the 'Best Costume' prize Lachlan Penninkilampi received a Rotary Youth Recognition award Our wonderful choir and Clare Fox participated in 'Voices in Performance' at the Town Hall. The following students were winners of the Towers Public Speaking Competition: Junior Division First place ‐ Vaishnavi Maheshwari Second place ‐ Victoria Hospodaryk Third place ‐ April De Haan 
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Senior Division First place‐ Valerina Sureshkumar Second place ‐ Quy‐Susan Huynh Third place ‐ Devansh Shah Jeremy Blackwood and Ben Gethin‐Damon represented Sydney West at the CHS hockey carnival Jonas Thomson of Year 11 performed in 'What Are They Like?' as a member of the NSW Public Schools Drama Company Ben Phelps and Taylor Clarke both received Gili Secondary Education Student 2013 scholarships ‐ these scholarships are awarded to promote the achievements of Aboriginal students The Senior Premier’s Debating team had a strong win over Jamison High (team members are Grace White, Ross Penninkilampi, Natalie Buckett and Michael Elliot Taylor Clarke was invited to be on the first Student Aboriginal Consultative Committee Max Duignan became the CHS Under 17’s single scull champion Madeline Fox represented Sydney West at the CHS Basketball Championships Jeremy Blackwood represented Sydney West at the CHS Hockey Championships Our Girls Open Basketball team had a strong win over Graville South – again played in a positive spirit Our Boys’ Open Squash team are now Regional champions – a great effort Natalie Buckett won the final of the local Sydney Morning Herald Public Speaking competition Rachel Gibbons came third in the local Sydney Morning Herald Public Speaking competition Michaela Gray, Tess Jones and Declan Travers were selected to attend the Western Sydney Region State Music Camp 
Chris Chew attended the Arts Unit Hip Hop Workshop MARCH / APRIL 
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Holly Wilson was named the outstanding wicket keeper at the recent tournament Max Duignan came second in the single scull event at the national titles The following students successfully gained representation on the Junior Representative Council: Angeline Barion, Megan Chen, Valavan Chanthiran, Tyler Dent, Adam Evans, Imethma Gunadasa, Zachariah Hammond, Noshin Nawal, Manpreet Kaur, Zachary Kembrey, Jayanty Pannu, Shiraneeve Ramanan, Devindee Ranatunga, Mithun Rathakrishnan, Sahil Shandil, Josh Tan, Ming Yong Tan, Aayushi Tripathi and Thea Yuen Penrith High had five representatives at the 2013 launch of the YMCA Youth Parliament: Olivia Bowman‐Wall, Michael Elliot, Rachel Gibbons, Keith Parker and Mithila Zaheen. (Not only did PHS have these five representatives, but the Governor is ex School Captain, Geeth Geeganage) Ross Penninkilampi was named Penrith Lions Youth of the Year and has progressed to be the regional Lions Youth of the Year Marley Young completed at the Junior Australian Athletics meet in Western Australia and was placed 6th in Australia in the shot put Marley Young of Year 11 applied for and was successful in obtaining the Mama Lena and Dino Gustin Foundation Scholarship, which is offered by the Public Education Foundation. This is a scholarship to study Italian in Rome at the end of the year ‐ a wonderful achievement Max Duignan is now Under 17’s Head of the River Champion, having defeated all comers from the private and public systems Aparna Panchanathan was announced as the NSW winner of the Somerset Writing Competition and will be flown to the Gold Coast for the announcement of the Australian winner Christina Heng was accepted into the State Dance Ensemble Vidushka Vithanage was selected in the Under 15’s NSW Indoor Cricket Team Holly Wilson was selected in the CHS Cricket Team Darren Jadraque and Sarah Lewis were selected for the Sydney West Tennis Team Michael Elliot completed in the Australian Junior Athletics Championship FEBRUARY 
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Phillip Lay won the Regional Under 15’s tennis tournament The following students represented PHS at the National Youth Science Forum: Rachel Gibbons, Shahana Moon, Ramit Narula and Mithila Zaheen Christina Hen was selected for the State Dance Ensemble Jonas Thomson was selected to the State Drama Ensemble 
Alyssa Sealtiel was awarded first place in the Australia‐Japanese Essay Competition and received a prize from the Japanese Consul General at his residence. This prize consisted of a return trip to Japan with accommodation and travel