Principal’s Post  
TROY ASCOTT  
COOLUM STATE HIGH SCHOOL  

OH, WHAT a night! The Coolum State High School ‘Celebration of Excellence’ was a wonderful celebration of the outstanding academic, musical and sporting achievement that exists in our school.  And truly what a night it was!

The Celebration of Excellence allows us to put on an event and show the community the outstanding musicians, dancers and performers that we have at Coolum State High School and showcase just how talented they are.

The standard of music was phenomenal and was opened by the award-winning Wind Symphony, who this year conquered everything before them. A stirring rendition of ‘Jolene’ honoured the great Dolly Parton, while the rock band’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ was a blistering cross-over anthem made even better by Isla King’s unforgettable saxophone solo.

The jazz band and the lyrical dancers were superb and underscored the range of talent in the school, while Layla Barnett’s version of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ proved why she is considered one of the best school-aged singers in Queensland and is set for an amazing future.

But it was the final performance that brought all elements of the school’s music program together into one superb performance of Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘September’, with the performance drawing from the jazz and rock bands, dance troupe, wind symphony, string ensemble and vocal program.

The number of students winning Gold Academic Awards was a school record, demonstrating how more and more students are striving to reach personal bests. The ultimate academic award, the Wandama Award, is presented to the highest-achieving Year 12 student at the time of the awards ceremony. In an incredibly tight contest, Sasha Seymour won this prestigious award, with her name now joining the likes of 2023 winner Jessnee Ng, who received the perfect ATAR score of 99.95.

We were honoured to have a range of special guests in attendance on the evening, with the presence of fellow Advertiser columnist Frances Windolf, an absolute highlight. Frances was a foundation teacher during Coolum High’s first year in existence, and there is no greater scholar of or servant to our community, so having Frances present awards to this generation of students was an absolute privilege.

Coolum State High School’s ‘Celebration of Excellence’ has become a pinnacle event for everyone in attendance and an annual opportunity to showcase to a wider audience the excellence that exists amongst the young people in our community.  It was an absolutely wonderful night!