20 Secondary Students to Receive Scholarships

Monday, 3 December 2007

20 Students Rewarded by PricewaterhouseCoopers
Secondary School Students to Receive Scholarships

This year PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has awarded a record 20 Aspire Scholarships to New Zealand students under the two strands of the Firm’s secondary schools’ programme. A total of 68 scholarships have now been made over the four years the scholarship programme has been in place.

David Randell, lead partner for the Aspire Scholarship programme, said PwC made the scholarships to 20 outstanding all-round students. “Since its inception in 2004, the Aspire Programme has seen us continually inspired and delighted by the numerous talented students we have been introduced to across New Zealand.”

The Aspire Scholarship programme was established in 2004 as a response to the challenge of ensuring Commerce was seen as an attractive and rewarding option for students when selecting their degrees and careers.

“We knew that our children’s schools were full of talented young people but they were not necessarily aware of the vast range of career options a background in Commerce can offer,” Mr Randell said. “Going into the schools, talking to students and encouraging them to learn more about Commerce was an obvious way forward.”

“And so, the Aspire Scholarship programme was born, offering not only financial assistance, but also mentoring and other career benefits. This was, for us, a demonstration of the level of our commitment to the nurturing of NZ’s business leaders of tomorrow - a particular passion for PwC.”

Aspire Foundation Scholarships were also made under the banner of the PwC Foundation, a charitable trust established in 2004 which co-ordinates the Firm’s community involvement. These scholarships are awarded to students at schools with decile ratings between one and seven. Since 2005, the PwC Foundation has awarded 13 scholarships to extremely worthy winners, including five this year.

Lead trustee and PwC partner Kathryn Roberts said the Aspire Foundation Scholarship initiative identified a number of students recognised by their schools as having great potential to succeed in their tertiary studies of commerce and/or finance. “It provides a great opportunity for us to assist students from more diverse backgrounds with a contribution toward their fees and mentoring support as they embark on tertiary study.”

This year, across both programmes, PwC received more than 80 nominations, and Mr Randell said the calibre of nominations was extremely high. “This year’s recipients were an exceptionally talented group. They are not only a credit to themselves and their families, but their success is also due in no small part to their schools and teachers – and we would like to pay tribute to their efforts as well.”

This year's winners of Aspire Scholarships and Aspire Foundation Scholarships are as follows:

Rachel Ah Koy Rangitoto College Auckland
Henry Cairns Sacred Heart College Auckland
Henry Caulton King’s College Auckland
Matthew Davis Westlake Boys High School Auckland
Sally Ding Westlake Girls High School Auckland
Michael Erceg Sacred Heart College Auckland
Emma Evans Diocesan School for Girls Auckland
James Brown Kelston Boys High School Auckland
Cameron Fraser Rutherford College Auckland
William Lawrence King’s College Auckland
Cameron McPherson Birkenhead College Auckland
Pauras Rege Lynfield College Auckland
Propey Samreth Kelston Girls' College Auckland
Julia Cavanagh Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Wellington
Matthew Rogers Scots College Wellington
Edward Rosenberg Wellington College Wellington
Joshua Hickford Francis Douglas Memorial College New Plymouth
Melissa Kawhe Napier Girls High School Napier
Gabrielle Smith Burnside High School Christchurch
Andrew Gray John McGlashan College Dunedin

ENDS

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