Pictured L-R: Maggie Chi, Aidan Luchs, Camille Luchs, Angie Zhou.
QAHS is positioned in Asia-Pacific's emerging health and innovation hub, the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. A unique global business location for high-tech industry development, research collaboration and jobs of the future, the precinct is a dedicated partnership of organisations making a difference in Health and Technology.
Earlier this month, the precinct featured four students from the graduating class of 2020, in their newsletter.
2020'S BRIGHTEST SCHOOL STUDENTS PROVIDE FUTURE WORKFORCE PIPELINE
Queensland Academy of Health Science top-performing students, Aidan Luchs (left), sister Camille Luchs, Maggie Chi and Angie Zhou
A future talent pipeline is assured if the results of 2020 graduating students at the Precinct's Queensland Academies Health Sciences Campus (QAHS) are anything to go by.
One of only three Queensland state schools for highly-capable students in Years 10 to 12, QAHS schools students in the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, with the 2020 cohort achieving results well above the international average, and several students receiving top results that place them amongst a global elite.
SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP KEY TO ACHIEVEMENT
Whilst Queensland's first graduating class to be awarded an ATAR ranking received their scores before Christmas, the 136 high-achievers at QAHS had to wait until last month to receive their results – a wait well and truly worth it for Maggie Chi, who received a perfect score, IB45, the equivalent of an ATAR 99.95.
Joy was an obvious reaction for the international STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) student leader.
"I was overwhelmed with joy when I received my results. It was really rewarding to see all my hard work pay off," says Maggie.
Maggie has received a Sir Samuel Griffith Award of Excellence scholarship to study at Griffith, where she'll undertake a Bachelor of Medical Science, as well as bringing her broad passion for combining economics and science to make a difference – her research, conducted as an integral part of the IB program, examined the ecological and economic impacts of salinity on agriculture in the Murray-Darling basin.
She was an Australian team member to the Asia-Pacific Forum for Science Talented in 2019, and part of a third-placed team for the 2020 Queensland AI for Good Challenge, a global competition run by Microsoft that saw another QAHS team top the state.
Joining Maggie at Griffith in the Bachelor of Medical Science degree is fellow high-performer Angie Zhou, who earned a near-perfect IB44 after a busy year in which she represented Australia at the International Biology Olympiad and won the Griffith Health Award for excellence in the IB core.
Angie , who honed her leadership skills as Gold Coast City Council Junior Mayor in 2019 and was also part of the Australian team for the Asia-Pacific Forum for Science Talented, completed her summer research internship at the innovative Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Melbourne.
"I chose Griffith to study because the medical science program is really good for getting direct entry into the doctor of medicine," says Angie.
"The Bachelor's degree is only 2 years, so it effectively shortens the pathway to become a doctor and I found that a really good choice for my future."
Not to be outdone was QAHS's top student, or "Academy Optimus', Camille Luchs, for her innovation, service and leadership-focused achievements, as well as the outstanding academic results that saw her also earn an IB45, just pipping her brother Aidan, who received an IB44.
Amongst Camille's remarkable achievements were a Mayor's Telstra Technology Entrepreneurial Spirt Award for her creative initiative to tackle diabetes, while she and Aidan both received the Rotary International Interact All-Rounder Award for outstanding leadership and community involvement.
The QAHS average IB score is 35, compared with the global average of 29.8.
Mrs Vanessa Rebgetz
Principal