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Year 12 students at Mudgee High School ended 13 years of schooling with in a blaze of colour yesterday.
The students took part in the annual Rainbow Day celebrations, this year raising money for Lifeskills Plus and Mudgee High School’s sister school in East Timor.
Local motorists were the first to contribute to Rainbow Day at the roadblocks on Church Street, Market Street, and Ulan Road. Motorists dropped coins and notes into donation buckets in a proud tradition that has become as much a part of the community as the Year 12 final assembly.
Festivities continued at the high school with a fete featuring carnival games and stalls for students from Cudgegong Valley and Mudgee public schools and the rest of Mudgee High School. The day ended with a concert featuring Year 12 students in the gymnasium.
This year’s Year 12 were in kindergarten when the first Rainbow Day was held.
“There’s an expectation from the local community now as to the positive events that occur on Rainbow Day,” Year 12 Year Advisor Claire Windeyer said.
“It’s kind of come full circle for me too. I started teaching in 2002 when these guys started kindergarten and I’m able to be here when their schooling comes to an end. It’s almost like we’ve been on a journey together,”
'There’s an expectation from the local community now as to the positive events that occur on Rainbow Day.'
Year 12 student Laynie Leven said she had been looking forward to Rainbow Day since she started Year 7 and had started cheering for the last Thursday of school since she started year 11.
“We’ve all really been looking forward to the entire day – from the roadblock to the stalls during the day,” she said. “We’ve been planning what we wanted to do for a while now, and have had a few setbacks, but we’re here now and it’s going to be a blast.”
The money was still being tallied yesterday, but events held through the year had already raised $10,000 for charity. The final tally will be announced later in the year.
Rainbow Day is the traditional end-of-year celebrations for Year 12 at Mudgee High before their Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams begin next term.