GALLERY OF ACHIEVEMENT 2026

🏆 Celebrating Success Beyond Lilydale High School

On Monday 14 September, we inducted four more past students into the Lilydale High School Gallery of Achievement 2026. 

The Gallery was introduced during our Centenary year to acknowledge students who have gone on to achieve special things in their chosen careers.

🎓 Meet Our 2026 Inductees

Kaila Glare

Human Rights Lawyer

Class of 2012

Education

• Bachelor of Laws & Psychological Science, La Trobe University (2013–2018)
• Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, The College of Law (2019)

Kaila is a practising human rights lawyer and has held several roles with Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), providing culturally safe health, legal and social services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

• In-house Lawyer (2019–2021)
• Lawyer – Prison Support Program (2021–2023)
• Managing Lawyer (2023–2025)
• Legal Practice Manager (2025–present)

Harry Shanley

Cancer Researcher

Class of 2015

Education

• Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Advanced) with Honours in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Monash University (2016–2019)

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Veterinary Biosciences/Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Melbourne (2020–2023)

Harry is a researcher with the Australian Centre for Targeted Therapeutics, currently working on treatments for prostate cancer.

Shelley Hemmings

Lecturer in Psychology

Class of 2013

Education

• Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), Deakin University (2016–2018)
• Doctor of Psychology (Clinical), Deakin University (2020–2024)

Shelley is currently a lecturer at Deakin University. She has also worked for Headspace, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Children’s Hospital as a provisional psychologist.

Blair Burke

VFX Director & Animator

Class of 2002

Blair is an animator and Visual Effects Director from Melbourne. Over 20 years, his work has taken him from Melbourne advertising agencies to film studios in Sydney, London and Wellington. He has animated characters and creatures for film and television, and has worked across many sectors, including video games, fashion, museums, art and immersive technology.

Education

• Bachelor of Multimedia and Digital Arts, Monash University (2004–2006)
• Animation Mentor (2008–2009)

Career Highlights

• Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne - Interactive Designer (2007–2011)
• Animal Logic, Sydney - The Lego Movie (2013–2014)
• Framestore, London - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Luma Pictures, Melbourne - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man (2014–2015)
• Weta Digital, Wellington - The Jungle Book, The BFG (2015–2016)
• Wingnut AR, Wellington - Augmented Reality with Sir Peter Jackson and Apple (2016–2017)
• Wētā FX - Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Last of Us, Better Man, The Batman, Shang-Chi (2020–2025)
• Phoria Studios, Melbourne - VFX Director (2025–present)

Blair's work has been recognised by the film industry’s highest awards, including multiple Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and honours for outstanding character animation.

🌟 Celebrating Our Alumni

Thank you to our Senior Captains, Bryn, Ayasha, Tori and Charlotte, who did a wonderful job interviewing our guests during the ceremony.

Our Year 11 and 12 students were in attendance to hear the inspiring messages from the inductees. 

The main message from our guests was: enjoy what you do, work hard and persist to get to where you want to go.

Wendy Powson

Principal