BEST IN SHOW: (Front) St Joseph’s Aberdeen agricultural science teacher Lisa Bright with students Josh Watson, Joe Wamsley, Roman Lancaster, Chloe McBeath, Mikayla Shone, Mimi Wylie, Clancy Witt (middle) St Joseph’s teacher Charles Mill, Claire Akauma, Brittany Parkinson, Lauren Parkinson, Tammy Taylor, Matilda Witt, (back) Sally Waters, Tayla Gilmore and Abbey Nichols.
Sixteen students from St Josephs High School, Aberdeen brought home a swag of ribbons and the prestigious Stan Hill Memorial trophy from the Sydney Royal Easter Show last week.
The school’s agricultural science teacher, Lisa Bright, said she couldn’t be more proud of her students who have worked together tirelessly for several months to produce such an outstanding result.
“The students took eight steers to the show they had prepared entirely themselves and came back with six ribbons including reserve champion steer in the open section,” she said.
The months of preparation paid off royally when the talented team of steer handlers took home one of the show’s highest accolades – the Stan Hill Memorial Trophy for best purebred steer and carcass.
Ms Bright said it wasn’t just the ribbons and trophies that made the students efforts so commendable, but their ability to work together as a team.
“Showing cattle is very much about teamwork, working together to overcome problems and making sure you show the steer to its best possible
advantage,” she said.
“We had some students that started off very shy but by the end of the show they were
looking for members of the public to talk to about their beasts.
“It was a real confidence booster.”
Ms Bright said it was great for the students to show so
successfully amidst strong company.
“The level of competition is extremely high - it’s not like taking a steer to a local show,” she said.
“Attention to detail is everything.
“The students also had to show they knew all about the breeding and history of their steers to be competitive,” Ms Bright said.
Kenny, a mid weight Murray Grey steer supplied by Bob Lea of Inverell took the students to reserve open champion for
middleweight steer and carcasse.
Two steers from Turanville Shorthorns, Scone placed second and fourth in their respective
categories while two steers from Kay Payne, Gundy placed third in the school section and 5th in the open.
The St Joseph’s team also came second in the Herdsman’s best maintained team competition.
Fifty students study steer handling at St Joseph’s, but only 16 were selected to take part in this years Royal Show competition.
The students were selected based on their ability and achievements as well as their performance in a teamwork and communication challenge the school hosted earlier in the year.