Successes
Dale in ActionDale Verstappen (Yr13 2009) has secured a 2 year contract with the Newcastle Knights' rugby league team. This is a photo of Dale in action for the Knights U18 team.
Mosese Karalus and Kelson Tu'akoi will not be troubled by hefty student loans in the first years of their university experience.
The St John's College head student and deputy head student have both been awarded the University of Auckland Chancellor's Award for Top Maori and Pacific Scholars, the biggest scholarships available for Pacific Island and Maori secondary school students in New Zealand.
The scholarships, worth around $40,000 for each student, will meet the students' course costs for three years and pay their accommodation for the first year.
"It's pretty enormous not having to rack up that money on a student loan," Kelson Tu'akoi said.
The 18-year-olds, who are involved in the school's Pasifika group and also play rugby, will be studying medicine, a seven-year course in which, after the intermediate year, student numbers are cut from 1200 to 80.
Kelson Tu'akoi said the course was "pretty cut-throat" but he was focused on succeeding.
He received word of his scholarship success first, and his classmate had to wait another three days before getting his own good news. "I was pretty stressed out," Mosese Karalus said, adding that without the scholarship his future could have taken a different path. "It was either get this scholarship or not go to Auckland University for me."
About 40 scholarships are handed out every year nationally.
Calvin Petersen: as he appeared in the "Back to the Future" production
Michael Burrow: as he appeared in the "Back to the Future" production
Calvin Petersen and Michael Burrow of Year 13 have been selected in the group to go to The Globe Theatre in London in July 2010. The group is known as the SGCNZ YSC (Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, Young Shakespeare Company). In the break they took part in the final group workshop in Wellington made up of 48 students. 24 students have been selected in the final group. Inially there were over 5000 students involved in the process so it is a great credit to both Calvin and Michael that they have been selected.
Both these boys achieved Scholarships in Drama for NCEA Level 3, Calvin with an Outstanding pass.
