Waihi College held a special assembly this week for Years 11 to 13, to award those students who received Scholarships from the Oceana Gold Education Trust in 2022. These students were Erika Serenado, Honza Andrews, Izzy Faber, Sean Choi and Zac McKechnie. Special guests were ex Waihi College Principal Harry Shepherd who was the visionary for the Trust, ex student Rory Davis, Oceana Gold representatives Kyle Welton, Kit Wilson and Trudie Stephens, Community representative for the Trust, Doreen McLeod and Student Representative for the Trust, Divyash Swamy. Naomi Laslett was also awarded with her Duke of Edinburgh, Gold Level. Unfortunately due to flooding, Naomi, Honza and Izzy could not attend.
We also celebrated those students who achieved an overall NCEA Level endorsement at Merit or Excellence level in 2022. Those students were Naelene Donaldson, Kataraina Ainsley, Maya Dodd, Samantha Morrow, Iain Hartley, Maggie Gerbich Burrows, Thalia Trepels, Scarlett Chambers, Amy Harris, Zoe Hug, Hayaat Dass, Hamish McKinnon and Hamish Mudford. We also awarded students who achieved their Vocational Pathways Award. These students were Jaja Hotlz-Taylor, Nicholas Mannix, Queenie Su, Lucy Walton, Ciara Hennessy, Meg Thomas, Divyash Swamy and Tyla Millar.
Well done to our students and a special thank you to Oceana Gold – Waihi College has received support up to the value of $1 million from the local gold mine, spanning 30 years now. Not only do they give out these scholarships, but they also give money to the school each year to help with a large variety of assets and resources that go on to benefit all our students. A huge asset to the whole community.