Memorable Moments
As a teacher chaperone, the Simpson Prize trip provided an incredibly rich and intense form of professional development. It was an absolute privilege to travel and learn with such a gifted and curious team of like-minded Australians, and I am so very proud of each and every one of them.
Each day provided memorable moments – social, cultural, spiritual and historical. Changes and continuities through time were evident every day and all around us. Weathered shepherds still muster their sheep through ancient fields, now shadowed by enormous wind turbines. We were humoured by the haggling efforts of “Mr.Kisses” in the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, yet awe struck by the sacred relics such as the arm of Prophet John at the Topkapi Palace. Equally sacred were the intimate commemorations we held for ANZAC soldiers at each memorial we visited, including the recitation of a poem penned by Irene Lawrie at Quinn’s Post – “Lest We Forget”. As the sun set across the mighty Aegean Sea, I gazed from under the mighty Sphinx, silent witness to the human triumphs and tragedies of 1915, and I envisioned the Allied fleet and soldiers approaching the shore for the prized Gallipoli peninsula. One cannot discount the uncanny similarity to the 1000 Greek ships launched in 1200BC by that most famous of prizes – Helen. In Troy, we take an express ride through history at a site that was first settled at the time the Great Pyramid was constructed in Egypt, and that witnessed the feats of Achilles, the might of the Persian Empire, the dreams of Alexander the Great, the desires of the Crusaders and the power of the Ottomans.
Also powerful was the national pride experienced, whether for an indigenous serviceman at Lone Pine who was spiritually recognised and reconnected with his land at last, the camaraderie between Australians calling and waving to each other from ship to shore on a guided cruise along ANZAC beaches, the faultless work of the Simpson Prize students at the Lone Pine ceremony, or meeting with the Governor-General.
This trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for which I will always be so very grateful, and I am thankful I experienced it with such an awesome team.
- Sharee Verdon, Moreton Bay College
