CSC achievers celebrated

The Castlemaine Secondary College’s (CSC) 2020 Awards Evening was another casualty of Covid-19 as the school community weren’t able to have a public gathering to celebrate the achievements of their students.
However, CSC will be recognising the achievements of their students during a series of assemblies over the coming weeks.
This kicked off with a special assembly prior to the five day snap lockdown where a number of students were recognised for excellence despite the challenges of studying in 2020 – including Year 12 Dux Alex Marney who received the Machen Hill Prize and the Bob & Isobel Robertson Scholarship.
During last week’s official opening visit Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards also made a special presentation to the winner of her ‘Putting Community First Award’ – Maisie Mellick Cooper. The award recognises a senior student who has shown outstanding commitment and involvement in their community.
This year’s awards also included a new award sponsored by Robertson Hyetts for a student who has demonstrated application and interest in Legal Studies.
This award was initiated in 2020 for VCE Legal Studies students to encourage them to consider a career in the legal field and was won by Ronan Neilson-Bridgfoot.
Ronan had the chance to visit Robertson Hyetts legal office in Barker Street recently and enjoyed a tour of the facilities and a chance to chat to staff about potential career paths.
Some of the other award winners included:
La Trobe University Infinity Award – Elwyn Carlile
A.C. Sinclair Award – Silas van Tiggelen
W.G. Thompson Scholarship – Brianna Smith
Chaplain’s Award – Amelia Britt
Anthony Newman Scholarship – Emily Laird
Castlemaine Field Naturalists Prizes – Rilke de Podolinsky & Beatrix Dimsey
David Thompson Scholarship – Jim Reid
John James Leadership Award – Greta Kennedy
Simone Mitchell Memorial Prize – Ben Stubbings
Coulthard Family Award – Cooper Lanson (Year 7), Xavier Abicare (Year 8), Gus Dernelley (Year 9)
CWA Phoenix Chewton Community Award – Kasey Button
C.T.C. Past Students’ Prize – James Glasgow
S. Ellis / E.Duncan Scholarship – Jeremy Duff
R.J. Adams Scholarship – Ben Moran
Gilbert Foster Memorial Scholarship – Mari Carrington
Albert A Heather, BEM Prize – Chloe Wrzesinski
Bunnings Achievement Award – India Davenport
Lions Club Awards – Violet Kennedy (Year 9), Lulu Carolan (Year 11)
Rotary Scholarships – Zoe Samakovski (Year 9), Alex Marney (Year 12)
Carl Steiner Scholarship – Niamh O’Connor-Smith
Ivor & Jessie Gazzard Scholarship – Morgan Prew
Les Currie Memorial Scholarships – Rita Fortune and Jack Neilson-Bridgfoot (Year 10), Chloe Cue & Nellie Wilsher (Year 11)
Stephen Brown Memorial Scholarship – Joint winners – Thomas & Mitchell Langley.
For more details about CSC award winners for 2020 visit https://csc.vic.edu.au/?s=awards

Maisie Mellick Cooper winner of the ‘Putting Community First Award’ is pictured with Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards.
Robertson Hyetts Special Counsel, Property and Commercial Law John Wellington presents their award to Ronan Neilson-Bridgfoot.
Lisa Dennis
Editor of the Castlemaine Mail newspaper and senior journalist on our sister paper the Midland Express. Over the last 24 years Lisa been proudly reporting news in the Mount Alexander and Macedon Ranges communities.