Twenty students from four Sutherland Shire high schools are attending the Gallipoli commemoration.
■ Lucas Heights Community School: Alicia Hull, Veronica Redman, Ethan Waudby, Kristen Grundie.
■ Cronulla High School: Jazmaree Dawson, Sydney Soames, Thomas McCorquodale, Alexander Witherden.
■ Port Hacking High School: Jordan Bailey, Nicole Freer, Catherine Said and William Cassimatis.
■ De La Salle College Caringbah: Luke Di Stefano and Cameron Jones (now at De La Salle College Cronulla), Ethan Waterfield, Emerson Fenwick.
Anzac Cove pilgrimage
KRISTEN Grundie knew from an early age her great-great-uncle, Frederick Albert Archer, died on the Western Front in World I.
However, details about the man the family called "Uncle Freddy" were sketchy.
Kristen, a year 10 student at Lucas Heights Community School, set out to learn more and, in doing so, gained selection to attend the centenary commemoration at Gallipoli.
Twenty-five high schools in NSW were chosen by ballot to be represented at the historic commemoration.
Four students from each school were selected, based on a written or visual piece of work and interviews by a panel of school and community representatives.
Kristen produced the results of her research, which included delving into the Australian War Memorial archives, in the form of a diary her great-great-uncle may have written.
"I found photos of him when he was at the war and letters he and his mother and father and his lieutenant wrote," she said.
"He had medals, but I discovered they were taken away to a tip."
Kristen said, through the project, she had met relatives she had never known, and it had brought the family closer together.
Veronica Redman, captain of Lucas Heights Community School, depicted The Ode of Remembrance in visual form as a poster.
"My nan, who died recently, used to take me to the RSL club and, sometimes, after hearing the Ode, we would talk about my grandfather Francis Taylor who served in Darwin in World War II and her uncle Walter Gorman, who was in World War I," she said.
Veronica used a computer program to merge an image of a soldier with her own photos of sunset.
"I see him representing all soldiers who have passed away, looking out at the sunset and listening to all the people at the centenary saying the words, Lest We Forget," she said.
Alicia Hull and Ethan Waudby, the school's two other representatives, wrote essays about Gallipoli and the importance of remembering the sacrifice of all those who had served their country.
Teacher Kate Graham said they had presented "extremely well" to an interview panel, which included Woronora RSL representative Jack Donnelly.