35 / 56
Regulus
Values and Culture
33
Students rise
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary
Awards continue to be a popular
programme at St Andrew’s. All
Year 10s complete the Bronze level as
part of the Te Waka programme, and a
large number of Year 11 students have
only their adventurous journey left
to do to earn their Silver Award, and
several others are aiming for Gold.
Among those who have completed the
journey are Year 12 student Robbie
Thomson who has earned his Silver
Award, and Eliza Grigg (Year 13) and
Hannah Oakley (Year 13), who received
their Gold Award after completing
the programme when they were in
Year 12 – no mean feat considering
the large time commitment required.
Governor-General, Lt Gen. The Rt Hon.
Sir Jerry Mateparae presented Eliza
and Hannah with their certificates at
Government House in Wellington.
Nine Year 13s – Sarah Croft, Sophie
Gualter, Patrick Hall, Ella Harris,
Benjamin James, Zachary Kenworthy,
Rachel Miller, Rose Oakley and Samuel
Williams – also received their awards
this year. Sir Mateparae presented
the students their certificates at a
ceremony hosted by St Andrew’s
College in early November.
It was a giant leap out of her comfort zone, but Meike van Roij says it was well worth
the effort. The Year 9 student recently won season four of TV2’s
Operation Hero
adventure show.
The 10-episode series featured six 12 to 14-year-olds who travelled New Zealand
taking part in different challenges designed around the deeds of real life heroes,
including two episodes inspired by heroic 12-year-olds, one from the 1950s, and
12-year-old cousins Will White and Sergio Schuler who saved a man caught in a rip
in the surf at Bowentown Beach in Bay of Plenty.
In a speech to the Preparatory School after the show, Meike shared what she learnt
about what it means to be a hero and how to be a leader among friends. She says
of her experience: “
Operation Hero
was great. I learnt so many new skills like how
to become a better team player and I also learnt that sometimes taking one for the
team is a great thing. I think a hero is a person who puts others before themselves
and who listens to other ideas.”
For winning
Operation Hero
, Meike received a family trip to Auckland and a jump
off the Sky Tower. However, Meike has opted to ‘cash in’ her prize and donate the
money to Treasure House, a children’s orphanage in Fiji.
to DOE
Hannah Oakley and Eliza Grigg with their
Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards.
(From left) Head of Values and Culture Hamish Bell, Ella Harris, Zachary Kenworthy, Eliza Grigg,
Benjamin James, Sophie Gualter, Sam Williams, Rose Oakley, Patrick Hall, Rachel Miller and
Hannah Oakley. Absent: Sarah Croft.
Meike van Roij (Year 9)
Achieving the Gold Award is a
significant achievement, especially
while still at school, and is recognised
worldwide, with 140 countries
offering the award programme. While
completing the award to Gold level
requires a great deal of commitment,
the sense of personal satisfaction
and the opportunities that come from
completing the award far outweigh
the work involved. Having 11 Gold
recipients in one year is a record for
St Andrew’s College.
inspire
Heroic
acts
gold challenge