IT has not ceased to humble art teacher Paul Gerardi that underpinning the striking stained glass windows he designed were people from this city, and from his school, who gave their lives in service.
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The three-panelled display to commemorate WWI at the southern, or Sturt Street, side of Ballarat High School has fast captured the attention of students this term.
Mr Gerardi students typically did not ask many questions of High's registered war memorial, also features an honour roll of more than 1000 names of alumni who have experienced active service in the Australian defence forces.
Nor do they ask much about the 100 ceramic poppies the school kept from the 1022 ceramic poppies to honour school alumni in commemorations for the Anzac centenary. These have been shaped together to form an eternal flame, prominent on a wall in Peacock Hall.
But students do seem intrigued by the new glass mural.
Designs for the windows, long just clear glass panels, were made in 2016 in an application for the federal government's Anzac centenary local grants program. While not successful, High kept Mr Gerardi's designs and embedded them into an $8 million redevelopment project, which included a restoration of Peacock Hall.
Mr Gerardi worked with Wendouree-based WJ Robson and Sons on matching the colours and styles to existing stained glass in the hall. The design features hats to represent all sectors of Australia's defence forces from WWI: army, navy, air and nurses.
Also depicted under the Ballarat High School logo is Ballarat's Arch of Victory - not far from the school - and the city's Avenue of Honour for which High students planted the first commemorative tree.
IN OTHER NEWS
High's year 12s were the first students to officially see the new windows when they sat their English exam last year.
Peacock Hall also played host to 80th anniversary commemorations of United States marines setting up a recovery camp in the nearby Victoria Park. A representative from the US consulate, a former teacher, told High principal Gary Palmer he had never seen anything like Peacock Hall in a school before.
Peacock Hall is named after Sir Alexander Peacock, the 20th Victorian premier and High alumnus. His knighthood remains on display at the doors to enter the hall, having been gifted to the school by Lady Peacock after his death in 1933.
High's main building, built in 1907, is heritage listed and gutted by fire in the 1920s. The restoration features original roof tiles and colours in line with the original build.
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