Four teams from Years 7 to 10 nominated by The Glennie School teachers visited Gold Coast’s AB Patterson College to compete in The da Vinci Decathlon Queensland event from Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 May. This academic competition is designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code-breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and general knowledge.
More than 20 schools attended and competed this year with the overarching theme of the event being Unexpected. Year 7 girls took out the 1st prize in the Art and Poetry category, impressing the judges with a uniquely illustrated surrealism drawing to match a poem they penned titled An unexpected death. Year 7 Glennie student Mia Brown said she enjoyed the drawing component of the competition. It was nice to use my strength in drawing and Kristen’s interest in poetry to contribute to the points the girls the accumulated in other challenges to secure a win for our team,” said Mia.
Year 8 girls placed 3rd in the Art and Poetry category with an abstract art illustration to match their poem titled Desert. Year 8 Glennie student Isabella Shelton said that the illustration and poem explored mirages complete with ocean views. “We were probably one of the most relaxed teams in the competition and enjoyed every challenge,” said Isabella.
Year 9 girls have attended the event for the past couple of years and harnessed this experience to secure a 3rd place in both the Science and Cartography categories. In science, they were challenged to answer analysis questions about mirages, and experiments, and explore the increased gravity and brain synchronisation in monkeys. Glennie student Emma Donald said the girls were tasked to map the effects of a natural disaster in North Queensland in the Cartography category. “Winning 3rd place in Science and Cartography is an achievement our team is proud of, and it has motivated us to work even harder for next year’s competition,” said Emma.
Head of Department Middle Years Social Science The Glennie School Mrs Pauline Gehrmann said it was wonderful to see the students have their intellectual and creative talents recognised. “The competition was fierce, so they can be deservedly proud of their achievements”, said Mrs Gehrmann.
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Holly Beaton, Celeste Sun-Miller, Kristen Davies, Mia Brown, Brianna Whyte, Jessica Irwin & April Smith
Tahlia Dwan, Jessica Barnes, Isabella Shelton, Zoe Dann, Olivia Prewett, Prisha Gupte & Chelsea Armstrong (Absent: Sienna Richardson)
