Three Launceston grade 9 students will travel to France next year after winning the state-wide Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize with their thoughtful essays on the impacts of World War I.
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St Patricks College student Jordan Moss, 15, was the first student from his college to win the prize, while Launceston Church Grammar students Molly Woolcock and Nicole Patrick followed in the footsteps of their winning predecessors.
The students were posed with a challenging question to agree or disagree with, on whether 1917 was the worst year of the war for Australia or not.
Nicole disagreed with her peers, writing in her 1200-word essay that the horrors of war could not be quantified in such terms or reduced down to a single timeframe.
“The statistics said it was, but I said Australia is its people, and for each individual 1917 wasn’t the worst year,” she said.
“You can’t classify something as hideous as war.”
Molly, in contrast, agreed with the finding, pointing to the sheer number of casualties suffered by Australia, and the impacts of the war on the young nations’ psyche, as reasons for 1917 to be remembered as the worst year.
“I talked about the whole issue with conscription and the second referendum and how that impacted Australia … and the general mood in Australia in 1917,” Molly said.
Jordan also agreed with the theory as 1917 carried the highest death toll.
“I reached that decision because of the biggest battle, Passchendaele and it had the highest casualities of any other battle for the Australians,” he said.
“The setting of it, all the mud and rain, just horrible things that happened there.”
Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the prize, named in honour of Tasmania’s last surviving World War I veteran, “plays a key role” in helping students learn about Tasmania’s role in the War.
“The prize is an excellent way for our students to learn more about history and keep the ANZAC spirit alive,” Mr Rockliff said.
The students will take a 10-day study tour to World War I sites next year as part of their prize.