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GEORGE NEWS AND VIDEO - History was made last week when Ludolph Pedro became the first York High School learner ever to receive an honours award from York High School a second time.
He first earned honours in 2021 for having full colours in at least three out of four areas: academics, culture and service.
The colours committee of York High decided that Pedro was to be awarded honours solely for his achievements in music, thus making him the first learner in the history of the school to achieve honours the traditional way (three full colours) as well as honours for achieving in one specific area.
On Monday 28 February, he held the school assembly spellbound with a performance of Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu Op 66, which can be viewed on York High School's Facebook account that currently has more than 35 000 views.
He has consistently been at the top of his school grade with an average of 96% for Grade 10 and 97% for Grade 11. After exceeding the requirements, he earned academic colours in August last year.
VIDEO: Ludolph makes history at York:
Pedro also contributes to the school in numerous ways including being the chairperson of the grounds staff care committee where their appreciation and love for the unsung heroes of the school is shown through a Christmas brunch, Valentine's goodies and other projects. He is also a member of the academic tutoring panel where, since Grade 8, he has made an effort to tutor his peers who needed help academically.
Ludolph Pedro.
Leadership abilities
His leadership abilities are displayed through the fact that he is only the second student in the history of York High to be elected to serve as the chairperson of the representative council of learners (RCL) for both his Grade 11 and 12 years. He consequently serves on the school governing body where he can provide the perspective of the student population.
Together with Bunono Frans, Pedro was elected to represent the student body on a newly established transformation committee that strives to make York High an inclusive and embracing community to people of all races, genders, religions, sexualities and cultures. They also recently delivered a presentation at an international conference on how schools can create a welcoming environment for everyone.
Pedro led the Junior City Council of George as the junior mayor and initiated numerous projects including an inter-school competition that collected a whopping 7 540 sanitary pads.
These are just a few of the reasons why Pedro was also awarded full service colours in 2021.
Full culture colours was awarded to him when he was in Grade 10 for his achievements in numerous public speaking competitions where he has consistently placed in the top five in South Africa against thousands of competitors. This includes winning the national round of the unprepared section in the South African Literacy Association's public speaking competition. His accompaniment of the school choir in 2019 and participation in school competitions where he plays piano solos, duets, and accompanies singers, attest to his contribution to music at York High.
Impressive musical achievements
Pedro has excelled in piano where he achieved impressive results at the George, Mossel Bay and Tygerberg eisteddfods, numerous competitions including the Young Musicians and Samro Hubert van der Spuy National Music competition as well as his piano exams, which allowed him to achieve culture colours in Grade 10 - a rare achievement.
He has garnered unparalleled achievements in music, being awarded the Hennie Joubert Merit Prize - which is awarded annually to the top two candidates in Unisa Examinations nationwide - six times, as well as being invited by professors Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães to attend and play piano at an International Piano Symposium where renowned professors from around the globe conducted master classes.
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