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Waikato District Youth Awards finalists announced
19 May 2016
Waikato District Youth Awards finalists announced
Finalists of the Waikato District Youth Awards have been chosen. There were 52 young people nominated.
“We are thrilled with the number of nominations we received,” Waikato District Council General Manager Strategy and Support, Tony Whittaker, says. “It’s great to see the community getting behind this event to acknowledge and recognise the fabulous work our young people do in their communities.”
This is the first year Waikato District Council has held the awards. The awards are made possible courtesy of funding the Council has received from the Ministry for Youth Development.
“We wanted to recognise and celebrate the young people who are making significant contributions to their home-towns,” Waikato District Council Youth Engagement Advisor, Shannon Kelly, says. “It’s a way of showing that we value their efforts, initiative, commitment and hard work.”
The award categories are Sass/Swag, Like a Boss, Helping Hand, Champion of the Earth and Kia Kaha. To be eligible, nominees had to be aged between 12 and 24 and live, or have lived, in the Waikato District, in the past 12 months.
The winners of the five categories will be announced at an event on Friday 27 May.
FINALISTS:
| Sass/Swag: Young people who have made an outstanding contribution to their community in arts, culture, music, dance or performance. | ||
| Name | Town | Details |
| Daniel Calder | Huntly | Daniel volunteers his time to Huntly West School. He helped with the end-of-year concert. He supports young people with vocal work and coping mechanisms for appearing on stage. |
| Pania Tata | Te Kauwhata | Pania is Year 12 student at Te Kauwhata College. She has made a name for herself on stage as a lead vocalist and often does harmonies for other groups. Pania has received awards recognising her accomplishments in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (the Kaitataki awards). |
| Wednesday Gilbert | Ngaruawahia | Wednesday published her first book at the young age of 21. She has spoken on behalf of youth at the Ngaruawahia Community Board and hopes to inspire other young people in the community. |
| Situation Vacant - Kaleshaa and Casey Messant | Huntly | Situations Vacant are a Huntly brother and sister duo, Kaleshaa and Casey Messant, who have won both the Smokefree National Battle of the Bands and Talent Quest Huntly. |
| Tia Maipi | Huntly | Tia has made a name for himself in the dancing community. He was successful in his bid to become part of The Palace Royal Family with Paris Goebel, winning back to back gold medals in LAS Vegas in 2012-2014. |
| Like a
Boss: Young people who have demonstrated great leadership in projects that have improved their community. | ||
| Name | Town | Details |
| Sharnay Cocup | Taupiri | Sharnay formed the first youth group in the Taupiri community just over two years ago. She also organised the community planting day that involved 60 youth and their families planting 250 native trees. Another big achievement was her involvement in encouraging youth to reconstruct the Taupiri Mountain Bush Walk trail. |
| Harty Sistaz: a group from Huntly | Huntly | Harty Sistaz is set up to support young females aged from 12-18 in the Huntly Community. The objective is to help young females make positive decisions that create pathways to improve other aspects of their physical, social and emotional wellbeing. |
| Elliot Baptist | Whatawhata | Elliot is currently studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Waikato. He has been nominated for his contribution to the Bush Tramway Club. Elliot volunteers his time in keeping the trains running, being Chairman and Newsletter Editor. |
| Mikayla Dickinson | Huntly | Mikayla is a 15 year old from Huntly college who volunteers her time to Huntly Kids kitchen and Girl Guiding Huntly. Mikayla is also a student leader for Students against Drink Driving. |
| Phoebe Comins | Huntly | Phoebe will be representing Huntly College and the wider community at the Outrigger World Sprints this month. She is a 2016 student helped at Huntly College and she also volunteers as coach for the “Midget” Waka Ama team. |
| Champion of the Earth
(Environment, natural, cultural, social,
urban): Young people who have contributed to environmental projects in their community to improve protection, restoration, conservation and/or sustainability. | ||
| Name | Town | Details |
| Taupiri Youth Group | Taupiri | More than 20 youth from the Taupiri Youth Group have been reconstructing the public bush walkway known as Taupiri Mountain. They have built stairs, hand rails and planted many native trees. This group also started the initiative for the memorial garden dedicated to the late Bob Sommerville. |
| Ellis Pike | Te Kauwhata | Ellis volunteers with the Te
Kauwhata Fire Brigade and has done so since he was 16. At
school Ellis is part of the service committee that raised
$7000 for Kids Can and also organised the Shave for a
Cure.
|
| Khan Watkins | Taupiri | Khan is heavily involved in the Taupiri Mountain project, volunteering his time to help plant natives. He also helped out with the memorial garden dedicated to the late Bob Somerville and finally teaching and encouraging others when it comes to the Taupiri Mountain. |
| Helping Hand: Young people who volunteer in order to improve their community. | ||
| Name | Town | Details |
| Ruby Maskell | Ngaruawahia | Ruby is 12 years old and attends Sacred Heart College, Hamilton. Ruby has been nominated for her active volunteering in the Ngaruawahia and Huntly communities, in particular, for her work with the local libraries. |
| Whetukura Huirama | Ngaruawahia | Whetu provides St John support as a first aider at key events in the community including the Regatta, holiday programme and regular sports events at Hopuhopu. |
| Antonia van den Bemd | Ngaruawahia | Antonia participates and leads in the St John Youth groups in both the Ngaruawahia and Huntly divisions. Antonia was also successful in becoming the North Waikato Cadet of the Year. |
| Lashon Semau | Tuakau | Lashon is involved in the Tuakau Youth Centre as a volunteer. He volunteers at the Tuakau Primary School every Tuesday and Thursday, helping setting up the breakfast with the kids and is part of the college bands in the community. |
| Kia Kaha: Young people who have contributed in meaningful ways to their community not otherwise recognised in the other categories. | ||
| Name | Town | Details |
| Rex Shane Edwards | Port Waikato | Rex is a volunteer in the Port Waikato Community. He has trained a number of locals to become skilled as rescue boat crews. Rex has also been recognised for his efforts by the Northern Region and Surf Lifesaving association. |
| Georgia Reynell | Ngaruawahia | Georgia is another strong member in St John Youth. She uses her first aid qualifications to support local events like the Huntly Christmas Parade. Georgia also volunteers her time at the Karakariki Christian Camp leading team Building and character building activities. |
| Mercer Under 15 Rowing Team | Mercer | The team has been nominated because of their incredible perseverance and commitment to their team, club and school. The team has competed at 13 regattas to date. At the NZ Secondary Schools competition in March they were the 14th fastest overall from more than 50 schools. |
| Samuel Haehae | Ngaruawahia | Sam is a 15 year old from Ngaruawhahia who has represented at regional level for rugby, rugby league and softball. This year Sam has also made the NZ under-15 softball team and represented Ngaruawahia High School in Waka Ama. |
| Robert Graham | Onewhero | Robert is 17 years old. He is a Year 12 sports leader at Onewhero Area School, is a member of the sunset beach surf lifesaving club at Port Waikato and coach of the Onewhero Area School Basketball Team. |
| Ashlee Dunsmuir | Huntly | Ashlee has been nominated for her involvement and organisation of the Huntly Aquatic Centre Kids Triathlon, her role as committee member of the Huntly Thistle member and her academic achievements. |
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