WITH two of Mount Gambier’s top four performing Year 12 students, St Martins Lutheran College is celebrating the success of the class of 2018.
Jackson Archibald’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 99.6 and Zoe Moran’s 98.95 topped the school’s graduates, with Jozua Zwijnenburg (93.1) and Lily Higgs (93.05) capping off a stellar performance from the college.
It is the first time since the college started its Year 12 program in 2008 it has produced the dux of Mount Gambier despite some stellar results in previous years, with Jackson humbled to carry the honour.
Overall the college out-performed the state average with 63pc of students achieving an ATAR over 70, placing them in the top 30pc of the state.
Furthermore, 27pc of students eligible for an ATAR scored in the state’s top 10pc.
College principal Alan Connah lauded the achievements of the Year 12 cohort, stating it was a great outcome for their diligent work.
“It is particularly pleasing to have eight of our 30 students achieve an ATAR over 90,” Mr Connah said.
Mr Connah said the college community was thrilled Jackson was Mount Gambier’s top student for 2018.
The Border Watch revealed to Jackson yesterday morning that he topped the city’s ATAR standings, which was met with elation by his peers.
“We had a fairly close-knit group this year, like a big family,” Lily said.
Her sentiments were echoed by Jozua, who said after checking his own score, his first instinct was to congratulate his classmates.
“I’m just so proud of them all,” he said.
Both Lily and Jozua navigated Year 12 without a clear pathway for their future, but yesterday’s unveiling of results indicated both have achieved strong results with potential to open a wide selection of university options.
“This year was just about doing the best you can, see where you get and go from there,” Lily said.
“If you try your best, you can do whatever you want once you figure out what that is.”
As for Zoe, her path is clear with aspirations to study physiotherapy at the University of South Australia next year.
“I really like helping people and I like the idea of helping people using their own bodies and seeing them get better would be very rewarding,” Zoe said.
