Salute to the spirit

BELGRAVE South Primary School has won a national award for teaching its students about the Anzac spirit.
Teachers Meagan Street and Julie Price were the Victorian primary school runners up in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Anzac Day Schools’ Awards for their overall program, and took out the Best Veteran and Community Involvement national title.
“We are donating $1500 – which is our prize money for the national award – to the 39th Battalion Infantry Association and they are donating that money to an isolated school along the track in Papua New Guinea,” Ms Price said.
“We hope we will become a sister school and our children will communicate with each other.”
La Trobe MP Laura Smyth presented the award at the school on 29 August.
“It is through great teachers like Julie and Megan that these students have been able to connect with the contribution made by our veterans and current serving members of our armed forces,” she said.
The school’s award entry featured a 10-week unit of work that involved role playing, poetry, creative writing, an Anzac Day ceremony organised by Grade 6 students, and visits from members of the local veteran community.
Kokoda veteran Captain Alan ‘Kanga’ Moore, of the 39th Battalion Infantry Association, attended the presentation and mentored students throughout the project.
The school responded to a newspaper article regarding the 39th Battalion’s request for funds for a Kokoda memorial and pledged their support.
The students raised money for the memorial and personally presented the cheque to Captain Moore.
Ms Smyth encouraged schools to get involved in next year’s Anzac Day School’s Awards, through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Saluting Their Service Commemorations Program.
Visit the DVA website for more information.