By XAVIER SMERDON
A WERRIBEE school girl has said she feels “cheated” after her former school accepted a national award for a design that she created at a ceremony that she was not allowed to attend.
Late last year 17-year-old Celina Harrower’s entry into the G20 Summit Stamp Competition was announced as the best design in Australia.
The competition was held to celebrate the fact that Brisbane will host the G20 Summit in November, which will be the most significant meeting of world leaders Australia has ever hosted.
Celina’s design won the nation-wide competition and as a result it will be made into a stamp by Australia Post and circulated this year.
But at the beginning of this school year Celina notified her school, MacKillop College that she would be leaving to attend an exclusive VCE program at RMIT, instead of finishing year 12 at the school.
Celina and her father Charles claim it was then inferred by the school that a scheduled award ceremony would be cancelled.
But Celina was later told by some of her former fellow students that the school was going ahead with the ceremony.
She and her father both contacted the school to see if she could attend, with Celena even offering to wear a MacKillop College uniform or simply attend as a spectator.
On the morning when the award was given by Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Josh Frydenberg, Celina was informed by text message that the school did not find it appropriate for her to attend.
“I was pretty mad when I found out they still held the ceremony,” Celina said.
“That morning I got about 12 texts from friends at the school saying I wouldn’t believe what was happening.
“I know I was representing the school when I won the competition but I still feel that they’ve stolen all the recognition I should’ve gotten.”
Photos of Mr Frydenberg presenting the award to the school posted on the G20 website show other students presenting him with a replica of Celina’s design portfolio that she created for the competition.
“That was my thought process. To be fair they wouldn’t even be able to understand what it all meant,” she said.
“It’s just wrong on so many levels.”
But MacKillop College Principal Rory Kennedy told Star at no point did the school mislead Celina about the planned ceremony.
“I absolutely refute claims that they were lied to by the school and actually I find that quite offensive,” Mr Kennedy said.
“In all of this there are absolutely elements of truth and there are elements that have been misunderstood or elements they’ve chosen to misunderstand.”
Mr Kennedy said that originally the event was cancelled but after Mr Frydenberg’s office informed him that the award was for the school and not for Celina, the school decided to proceed with the ceremony.
He also said that Celina’s portfolio was displayed to recognise the work of the school.
“The folio is in fact the school’s work because the teacher guided her work, and this award is also recognising the talent of a faculty.
“I was actually reluctant to receive the award but they (Mr Frydenberg’s office) stopped me in my tracks and said it is not an individual award.
“As a past student it would have been inappropriate to have her there dressed in a Mackillop uniform. We just wouldn’t do that.”
Mr Frydenberg confirmed to Star that he had informed the school that the award was not an individual one.
“I did not express any preference as to whether or not the student was present. It was entirely up to the school,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“I am very comfortable with the way this has been handled.”
Mr Frydenberg said he was not aware of any plans for Celina to receive her own award.
As for Celina, she was now excited to take the next step in her life at RMIT.
“I’m stoked,” she said.
“It has hit me a bit that I’m moving from the school that I’ve been at for so long, but it’s going to expand my options quite a bit.”
