On the wall of Freeman Catholic College Bonnyrigg Heights, a timber model of Wall-E stands quietly on display. It has been there for years — a relic of one student’s ambition, now watching over a new generation finding theirs.

That model was built by Alessandrio Lettieri in 2016, a former Freeman student whose HSC major work was selected for SHAPE, the NSW Education Standards Authority’s prestigious annual showcase of the state’s most outstanding student design projects.

Today, Mr Lettieri walks those same corridors as an Industrial Technology teacher. And this year, one of his own students followed in his footsteps.

“Seeing one of my first Year 12 students selected for SHAPE was incredibly special,” he said.

“It wasn’t just pride in their work. It was the realisation that their creativity, persistence, and craftsmanship had been recognised at the highest level.”

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) made a remarkable impression at SHAPE 2026, with five students across four schools selected to feature in this year’s showcase.

Mr Lettieri’s Year 12 Major Work woodwork model of Disney’s Wall-E

Of just 57 students chosen from more than 11,000 entries across NSW, nearly one in ten called an SCS school home. Freeman College led the cohort with two selections, and the stories behind both projects are as compelling as the works themselves.

Pyper Paszyn, a Year 12 student in Mr Lettieri’s very first HSC timber class, created a standing tambour jewellery cabinet, its sliding door adorned with an intricate marquetry inlay of kookaburras and eucalyptus trees inspired by her love of native Australian fauna and flora.

The inlay was cut and assembled using a laser machine, and the tambour doors alone required more than 75 hours of work and three separate …