Rachel Harvey CAS dux for second year running
Few students can claim to have been their school’s dux twice in their lives, but Rachel Harvey’s name is now among them.
Both this year’s Collingwood Area School dux and RSA Scholarship went to the year 13 student, who was awarded dux in 2009.
Uncommon as it may sound, it’s not an unheard of event in area schools, where an absence of year 13 students in one year means that a year 12 has to be chosen, and they stay on to excel academically the following year. Another CAS student, Melissa Pomeroy, was named dux two years running, in 1992 and 1993.
CAS had four year 13 students this year.
Having concentrated on biology and chemistry in her final year, Rachel now intends to enrol in a vet nursing course at Christchurch Polytech Institute of Technology (CPIT), beginning in 2011.
“Seven years is a long time to train to become a fully qualified vet, and a vet nurse only takes a year to qualify. The more hands-on work that vet nurses do is more attractive to me, too. I did my work experience at Halifax Vet Clinic in Nelson and it helped me make the final decision.”
Besides packing up her belongings ready for the shift down south, Rachel will spend the holidays relaxing with her family and riding their two horses. She looks back at her 13 years of education at CAS as a great experience. “It’s a pretty relaxed place to learn, which meant for me I could just get on with it without any stress.”
Principal John Garner agrees; “Rachel has always been a very polite and friendly student who is hard-working and well organised. Becoming dux in consecutive years is a tribute to her ability to have clear goals, stay focused and develop the skills to become an independent learner. Basically she put in all the effort and got there.”
Other top student achievers this year at CAS included Robyn Tomlinson, who was awarded the NMIT Scholarship. The Nelson Mail-Network Tasman Top Student Award went to Aiden Bettridge for his all-round academic, cultural and sporting contributions. This year he made the National Area Schools Rugby Team, the first student from that school to make a national team.
Gerard Hindmarsh
