By Rachel Curry
Three students from Iona Presentation College have matched their wits with the best in the world at an academic tournament at globally renowned Yale University.
Bridget Bradley, 14; Jasmin Embleton, 13; and Phillipa Newman, 14, travelled to the United States late last year to compete as the only Australian team in the World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions.
The girls, who competed against other schools in Perth and later in Kuala Lumpur to qualify, put in an amazing performance against more than 650 other students to take home medals of outstanding achievement in debating, top scholar for Australia and science in the scholar’s challenge.
They studied for more than six months on top of their normal Year 8 workload to prepare for the tournament, which covered 242 areas of study under the 2015 theme, The World Unbound.
Complex topics included “The pocket veto: mobile technology and democratic development”, “How is an antihero different from a villain?” and “The re-emergence of anarchism”.
Iona’s gifted and talented co-ordinator Louise Ormesher said the girls gained a wealth of knowledge and skills that the school environment could not have provided in such a short amount of time, and would not normally be part of the curriculum.
“Their self-directed learning skills developed to outstanding levels, as did their collaborative (and) teamwork ability,” Ms Ormesher said.
“Working with and competing against students from across the globe was an experience otherwise not available ‘at this scale’ for them. Other highlights of the actual competition included studying within the grounds of Yale University, meeting and hearing from many lecturers and students at Yale and the enormity of the event itself,” she added.
After the competition, the students were provided with another incredible experience by visiting the United Nations (UN) Headquarters and meeting Presentation Sisters Elsa Muttathu, the NGO Representative to the UN, and Mary Margaret Mooney.
They were also privileged to have lunch in the UN Delegates Dining Room with Australian Ambassador to the UN, Gillian Bird, and enjoyed tours of New York City and Washington DC.
Ms Ormesher said further highlights included visiting the 9/11 Memorial, attending Sunday Mass at St Augustine’s in Washington where they heard the gospel choir, and visiting the Smithsonian Institutes and Capitol Hill.
The World Scholar’s Cup forms one of many opportunities for Iona Presentation College’s gifted and talented students who have the chance to participate in programs such as Academy Conferences, the Da Vinci Decathlon, Future Problem Solving, Youth Literature Days, Young Writer’s Days and Philosothon.