Two students from the Eurobodalla have bagged the major prizes in a Christmas vacation challenge asking them to describe the experiences of teenagers in the 1960s.
Teagan Moses of Carroll College in Broulee and Stephanie Lunn of Moruya High School accepted the challenge made by the South Coast History Society to talk to ‘Baby Boomers’ about their teenage years in the 1950s and 1960s and to then document their findings. And they were the winners of the competition, each receiving a cash prize and several books provided by National Library of Australia Publishing.
Stephanie was presented with her prize by Peter Lacey, President of the South Coast History Society, at a school assembly last week and Teagan will receive her prize at a school assembly next week.
“The competition was designed to pose an interesting Christmas holidays challenge to senior high school students that would require them to undertake a little original research, and the feedback we received from entrants was that they really enjoyed the challenge and were quite intrigued by how different things were for teenagers just 50 or 60 years ago,” Mr Lacey said.
“Most entrants, including both Stephanie and Teagan, ended up talking to a number of people who had grown up in the 1950s and 1960s and found that all were very willing to share their stories and recollections from that era – even if, as Teagan discovered, some of these were quite harrowing stories.”
“But that is just part and parcel of historical research,” Mr Lacey added. “Because you will never know in advance where your research will lead.”
“The judge of the competition reported that he felt the entries generally were ‘of a very high standard and engrossing’, so both Tegan and Stephanie are to be congratulated for their exceptional efforts.”
Stephanie’s entry, which combined written descriptions about the 1950s and 1960s with photographs from that era, is being reprinted in the April issue of ‘Recollections’, the South Coast’s free history magazine, along with one by a student from Lumen Christi College in Pambula that used a novel, creative approach to history writing.
“Both are well-worth reading,” Peter Lacey suggests.
“The success of this competition will ensure South Coast History Society sets high school students another Christmas Challenge this year, and the challenge for us now is to come up with another new topic that will be as appealing and interesting to likely entrants. So, we’d welcome any suggestions,” Mr Lacey said.
Above: Stephanie Lunn receiving her competition prize from Peter lacey, President of the South Coast History Society
Above: Teagan Moses of Carroll College, Broulee.
