Awards Highlight Districts Young Achievers

Thirteen young people in New Plymouth District will tonight receive awards for their great efforts in a variety of fields.

The Young Achievers’ Awards celebrate the attitude and success of under 25-year-olds who are role models for other young people, says Mayor Peter Tennent.

“We had a lot of superb nominees for the Youth Subcommittee to choose the winners from, so it’s fantastic to see that so many young people in our community are excelling in their chosen fields,” says Mayor Pete.

“They’re an inspiration to people of all ages. It’s heartening to know our young people are giving so much back to the community through their talents and determination.”

As well as the 10 category award winners, three were selected for a Mayor’s Choice Award as also deserving official recognition.

The winners of the Young Achievers’ Awards 2008 are:

Sports Achievement – Hannah Sarten (Oakura)
(Highly commended: Danielle Trevis, Kane Barrett, Edward Rawles and Kate Broadmore.)
Hannah is the youngest person to have received the BMX Sports Woman of the Year, and is the only New Zealander to win back-to-back BMX world titles – having become world number one in her age group at the BMX World Championships in Canada in 2007, then winning in two classes this year and the world champs in China. Prior to this, Hannah has been the North Island number one BMX racer for four years in a row, and the New Zealand number one three years in a row.

Young Entrepreneur – Monday Skateboard Company (New Plymouth)
(Highly commended: Stirred and Jaccar Creations.)
The Monday Skateboard Company was formed 18 months ago by a group of motivated and passionate skateboarders. They have a desire to promote skateboarding and use their creative talents to design, source and manufacture their own products and to inspire other youth to ‘get off the couch’ and have some fun. The emphasis on their current line is to support quality New Zealand skateboard products. They are currently looking to expand the product line to grow their market share in the skateboarding sector. Due to their success, they have been in a position to contribute back to the community through events such as the Marfell Mana Day, Special Children’s Extravaganza and the START Taranaki Charity Auction.

Community Service – Nicole Richards (Spotswood College)
(Highly commended: Renee Hitchings and Jenny Larson.)
Nicole is described as having a social conscience and the ability to rally others and raise funds for good causes. This young person is a Year 13 student at Spotswood College. She gives her time to a number of committees, including the Student Council, Services Committee and the Magazine Committee. She visits Marfell Community School to help teach Spanish. She volunteers at Te Rangimarie Hospice cooking meals for patients and cleaning the premise, and also helps drive the Canteen cancer kids appeal in our community. She is an active member of the New Plymouth Volunteer Service, giving all her free time outside of her school studies to volunteering in our community.

Outstanding Apprentice/trainee – Dion Wharepapa (NP)
(Highly commended: Damien Coombe.)
Dion has been working at New World for five years. He started as a part-time cleaner in the butchery after leaving school, and his hard-working spirit soon earned him a fulltime butchery apprenticeship. He took up the opportunity and studied his National Certificate in Meat Retailing, Strands in Boning and Retail level 4, completing all units with high marks – and finishing what is traditionally a three-year apprenticeship in just over two years. He loves what he does and has made life-long friends in the process. He is so excited to be qualified and looks forward to a pay rise!

Employee of the Year – Kelly Cotter (NP)
(Highly commended: Brock Sibbick.)
Kelly has worked at Waves Youth Health Centre for the past 18 months with absolute loyalty and commitment to her work and for supporting other young people. She has a condition that has seen her in a wheelchair since her early teens, but this has not stopped her bringing her enjoyment of life to her peer support work at Waves. She does a range of jobs, from manning phones and running art design programmes with youth, to assisting medical and nursing staff with appropriate tasks. All the staff at Waves find her an amazing role model and a pleasure to work alongside.

Arts – Tess Hall (Sacred Heart Girls’ College)
(Highly commended: Alannah Matthews and Danica Brbich.)
Tess has trained in dance and drama for the past eight years. She is an extremely dedicated, talented and versatile young performer. During her Grade 3 and 4 years she was awarded 100 per cent in her ballet Royal Academy of Dance examinations, and she is now training for her Advanced One Level in Ballet, Advanced in Jazz and Level 5 Contemporary at the very young age of 13. She was recently awarded a two-week scholarship to attend the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne, which she will attend in early 2009, along with a study scholarship to attend the New Zealand School of Dance Winter School in 2009. She was the winner of the 2007 New Zealand Association of Modern Dance Scholarship in Wellington for Ballet.

Music – Tama Porter (Waitara High School)
(Highly commended: Geraint Scott and Caitlin McKee.)
Tama has been studying the piano for only five years but demonstrates extreme talent. He has attained Grade 8 with distinction for his piano examinations this year, and continues to gain levels of excellence in all his musical studies. He is year 11 at Waitara High School and contributes to his school and community by frequently playing at events. He has a huge commitment to strive and succeed with excellence. Tama delighted a judge so much with an impressive and skilled performance that he was recently named the Taranaki Young Musician of the Year.

Youth Development – Alexis Muir (SHGC)
(Highly commended: Phoebe Harrop and Brooke Muggeridge.)
Her contribution to youth development in our community is of a physical nature. Alexis volunteers her time to support the physical and sporting talent of many young people by umpiring school-based, district and regional teams in a number of codes. She coaches junior levels in basketball and was the coordinator of the Sacred Heart Girls’ High School’s umpiring programme, a member of the sports council, a Board of Trustees student representative, and production director of a Young Enterprise Scheme. She openly strives to encourage other young people to get active and stay active to enhance their overall development in life.

Community Development – Funders (New Plymouth Girls’ High School)
(Highly commended: Nathan Sole and Student Extension Project Coastal Taranaki.)
In the development of their Young Enterprise Team, Funders was challenged to consider doing something that would contribute positively to the wider community. The team broke new ground as there is no history of a Young Enterprise Team forgoing the opportunity to be profit-driven for a community-driven focus. Funders decided to form an event management service exclusively to not-for-profit organisations and charities. Many groups benefited from their service, including the SPCA, Foodbank, Waves and the Taranaki Cancer Society.

Cultural Development – Samoan Methodist Church Youth Culture Group (NP)
(Highly commended: Toioraroa Ngeru and Penny-Lynne Siebert.)
This group has been culturally involved in the community for more than 10 years. They have shared their cultural values, traditions, performance and food at the Multi-Ethic Extravaganza, performed at community events such as Waitangi Family Day, and were key to the welcoming of the Samoan Head of State to New Plymouth. The group visits numerous rest homes, hospital wards and homes for Christmas carolling every year. Their traditional cultural protocols are taught to schools, individuals and groups in the wider community. They are very proud of their heritage and openly share it with people of all backgrounds.

Mayor’s Choice Awards – Winners

Paige Hareb (Oakura): Paige is poised to become the first New Zealand woman to qualify for the Association of Surfing Professionals World Surfing Tour. She excelled so much in her first year out of the amateur ranks that she decided to contest the world qualifying series, and looks set to secure a place in the elite professional circuit in 2009. She has won three of the five Australian Pro-Junior series and her success has brought and will continue to bring positive coverage to our district.
Hinenui Wano (NP): Hinenui is 100 per cent committed to the health and well-being of other young people. She leads the Youth Health Team for the Health Promotion Unit and often goes over and above the call of duty to ensure young people are the focus of positive projects and events across our district. Every Friday night she voluntarily supports a youth group to provide activities that are fun and safe for youth. She leads by example as a positive Auahi Kore role model, and has a passion to work with young people of all ages and backgrounds.
Chris Maessen (Oakura): Chris is a gifted artist with an ability to capture the best skateboard footage in Taranaki. He has given up many hours over and above his own fulltime work commitments to assist his peers. He has a major role in promotional graphics, art design and filming for the Monday Skateboard Company. He recently held the launch of the How we Dooze It DVD at TSB Showplace: A two-year production on his behalf. Capturing this footage is not for the faint-hearted but he does it for the love of it, and to support youth development in our district.