Fifty-five students from Traralgon’s Lavalla Catholic College are now home from Canberra with medals and shields won at the Australian National Eisteddfod in Canberra.
The college’s senior choir, jazz ensemble and senior concert band competed at the prestigious event during a five-day trip to the national capital.
The choir was awarded a gold medal for its performance.
The jazz ensemble won the under 18 B Grade section and was awarded a silver shield in the non-competitive section.
The senior concert band also won a silver shield and came third in its section.
Before beginning the long bus trip home yesterday, the students and their teachers met with The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester during a visit to Parliament House.
“It’s always great to catch up with schools from Gippsland when they visit Canberra,” Mr Chester said. “It was great to see the students all enjoying the trip and their success at the eisteddfod.
“Their school and parents will be proud of how this group represented Lavalla and themselves. All of Gippsland should be proud of how they represented our region.”
The group surprised Mr Chester by presenting him with his own monogrammed Lavalla top.
Lavalla Catholic College director of music Shane Reid said most of the students were part of the choir as well as the concert band or the jazz ensemble.
“Some of the students on this trip are members of all three groups. That means they come to school early four mornings each week to attend rehearsals before classes start,” Mr Reid said.
“We are lucky to have many students who are willing to work so hard. As a school, we are very proud of them all.”
While they were in Canberra, the students and their teachers visited the Australian War Memorial, the Museum of Democracy at Old Parliament House, the Deep Space Centre and Lake Burley-Griffin.
