Waipā’s top young sportspeople, academic achievers and community leaders have been recognised in this year’s annual Youth Awards.
The Waipā Youth Awards; usually a live event hosted before senior exams; was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, replaced by a video starring all-star rugby great Honey Hireme-Smiler and Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest.
Each of the various award categories is separated into three tiers – Achieved, Merit and Excellence, with judges choosing a top student who displayed excellence in their respective field.
The following students have been recognised as showing distinction in their respective category and received the Excellence-tier award.
St Peter’s Cambridge’s Ruoan Wang was recipient of the Academic award (sponsored by University of Waikato), while Miranda McArthur, also of St Peter’s, received the Arts & Culture award (sponsored by CMYK).
Billie Brown-Wahanui from Te Awamutu College received the Community Service award (sponsored by Te Awamutu Rotary) for her contributions to the community. The Leadership award (sponsored by Cambridge Rotary & Construction Advantage Ltd) was awarded to Hunter Ludlum of Cambridge High School.
Oksana Voznyuk of Te Awamutu College received the Multi-Achiever Award (sponsored by Business Networking Int & Construction Advantage Ltd).
Three young sportspeople were selected to receive the top Sports award (sponsored by Cambridge Lions & Storey Sport), with judges unable to choose a single worthy recipient. Jack Carswell, Maui Morrison and Andrew Syme, all of Cambridge High School, recieved a shared top award.
In a year thrown into disarray by COVID-19, Mylchreest thanked the district’s students for the sacrifices they had made during the pandemic year.
“Our students have had to make some serious sacrifices this year within their academic, sporting and social lives.
“We’ve seen cancelled graduations, cancelled sporting seasons, and most recently, uncertainty around end-of-year exams. It hasn’t been easy for our youth, and we’re grateful to our students for their contribution to the community this year.”
The list of recipients and further information can be found on the Waipā District Council at waipadc.govt.nz/waipa-youth-awards.
