PENOLA students have united to ensure Penola-born polar explorer John Riddoch Rymill is honoured as part of Australia’s new icebreaker competition, which could see them be the first students to set foot in Antarctica.
The “Name our Icebreaker” competition was open to students across the country and under the Australian Antarctic Division program, Member for Barker Tony Pasin worked with the three local schools to ensure Mr Rymill’s legacy lives on.
Mary MacKillop Memorial School student Mitchell said their school wanted to name the new icebreaker after Mr Rymill as he was a strong, determined, intelligent and brave man.
“Mr Rymill had a humble personality which we admire and he explored an amazing 2,000km of land,” Mary MacKillop Memorial School student Mitchell said.
Two groups of students from Penola Primary School constructed diverse pitches as to what to name the icebreaker.
The first group of six students creatively constructed a unique poem to illustrate the reasons to name the ship the John Riddoch Rymill.
“We decided to create a poem as it is unique to other entries,” Penola Primary School student Emily said.
The school’s second group offered an alternative name, deciding the icebreaker should be named Terra Rossa after the region’s famous soil.
“Many people know Penola for our wine as Coonawarra is one of the best wine regions,” Penola Primary School student Luca said.
The students created a 90 second video discussing its significance to the area.
“Australia has a lot of red soil so we believe this represents the country well,” Luca said.
Terra Rossa also reflected the different cultures present in Penola due to the wineries attracting people from around the world.
The students said they would be excited to gain the opportunity to visit Antarctica as the environment was vastly different to Australia’s.
Penola High School also entered the national competition putting their own spin on naming Australia’s new icebreaker John Riddoch Rymill.
Students wrote a short essay on the life and success of Mr Rymill, stating he should be acknowledged for mapping out a significant part of the Antarctic peninsula.
Mr Pasin said the competition was an opportunity to inspire Antarctic scientists and policy makers of the future, engaging them to learn about the Antarctic environment, climate, history and Australia’s role there.
Entries have been submitted and will be judged by a panel of Antarctic experts on criteria including originality, creativity, sincerity, appropriateness and alignment with the values, objectives and activities of the Australian Antarctic Program.
