School celebrates scholarship winners

HIGH TEA: Whanganui High School scholarship winners at a special morning tea at the school.
Back row (from left) Isabella Henderson, Gabrielle Penn, Abby Hurley, Connor Cresswell, Alan Wang, Alister Hughes, Kate Denzel, Nusr Ghamri (deputy head boy).
Front row (from left) Mikaya Teki (deputy head girl), Jeanne-Marie Bonnet, Jack Southee (head boy), Jackie Hazelhurst (head girl), Zara Collinson.
Absent: Methmi Perera, Regan Davey.

Whanganui High School is celebrating a bumper crop of New Zealand scholarship winners.

Nine Year 13 students and one Year 12 student from 2016 won 24 scholarships between them. The students were invited to the school for a special morning tea with staff and principal Martin McAllen.

Mr McAllen said the school had done particularly well for scholarships in 2016.

"The school usually gets between 16 and about 22 scholarships a year, so we have very strong numbers this year."

He said it was great for the students - who all receive a certain amount of money per subject - but also for the teachers who worked with the students.

Approximately 3 per cent of New Zealand Year 13 students are awarded a scholarship.

Many of the students won more than one scholarship. Gabrielle Penn won the most scholarships with a total of five, in media studies, history, statistics, geography and English.

Miss Penn won an outstanding scholarship in English, making her one of the top students for that subject in the country.

Miss Penn said she had been hoping for a good result.

"I worked very hard so I was hoping to do well. But it was still a very pleasant surprise."

Her collection of scholarships will bring her $15,000 over three years, which she will use to help fund her studies at the University of Auckland. She plans to study law and commerce.  

"In the long-term I'd like to be a lawyer or maybe a business consultant," Miss Penn said.

She said it was lovely to come back to the school for morning tea.

"I've caught up with some old classmates and the teachers who helped me a lot last year," Miss Penn said.

Mr McAllen said most of the scholarship students would be leaving Whanganui soon to go to university; but he encouraged them to visit the school whenever they returned to Whanganui.

"We like to maintain those connections with the students, and of course they are an encouragement to our current students," he said.

By Anne-Marie McDonald
Wanganui Chroncile 20/2/16 


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