Students from Orange were named as some of the best in the state when the Higher School Certificate (HSC) results were announced late last week.
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Among them was James Sheahan Catholic High School graduate Tegan Mackay, who has been selected for Encore, a program of performances and compositions by outstanding HSC music students that will be held at the Sydney Opera House on February 19.
Tegan was selected for her composition, El Vestido Rojo, a piece that she wrote to be performed by a string quartet.
“It’s Spanish for the red dress, because I composed it in a style of tango,” she said.
“I was surprised but also really excited and pretty proud as well.”
After taking a gap year next year, in which she plans to teach violin and continue playing the viola, she hopes to go to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to pursue a career in performance or composition.
Orange High School graduates Logan Rumney and Poppy Chippendale also made their mark in their last year of high school.
With a subject score of 98 out of 100, Logan came third in the state for dance, a subject which was 80 per cent practical and 20 per cent theory.
Incredibly, dance was not among her first choices when selecting HSC subjects, and she only signed on to study it when her preferred course of society and culture was unavailable.
“I felt very shocked, I didn’t expect it, it was definitely not what I was expecting but I’m really happy that I achieved that,” Logan, who scored an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 95.7, said.
Poppy Chippendale came 11th in NSW in PDHPE, a subject that involved study of anatomy and physiology.
“I’m still in shock, it was always one of my best subjects,” she said.
“I wasn’t really expecting to have so many options, I’m a bit confused to what I’m going to do, definitely something in health.”
Both girls received ATARs well above what they were expecting and are reassessing what they want to study at university.
Schoolmate William Boyd was named as an all rounder because he achieved results in the band six – the highest grading – in 10 or more units of courses.
Other standout students from Orange included Kinross Wolaroi School’s Amelia Rawson, who was also named an all rounder, and Trent Russell who came sixth in software design and development.
There were many other HSC students from schools in Orange who scored results in band six in one or more of their subjects.