GBHS Senior Closing Ceremony
Jana Cottle-McCommon, Golden Bay Dux 2011, right. Sage Andrews, winner of a Keystone Trust scholarship, left. Photo: Neil Wilson.
“Quietly competitive” GBHS Dux not satisfied with second-best
Jana Cottle-McConnon had a very busy night at Golden Bay High School’s closing ceremony last week. It was the culmination of what has been a full and successful year for the Takaka teen.
Jana won the premier academic award, Dux of the school and honours awards for academic excellence in Chemistry, Geography, and English. She also shared the David Tunley Memorial Cup for senior Chemistry with Ruby Meiklejohn.
Jana also won the MGS Carlton Plate and prize for citizenship and shared the Chamberlain Cup for her contribution to netball with Luken Chamberlain. In 2011 Jana also chaired the student council and represented the students on the school’s Board of Trustees.
Jana is very clear about describing her path to such impressive success.
“I just stuck at what I have normally done since about year nine, which is keep up with the work. I think you really only get one shot at making the most of your opportunities. I didn’t want to leave school with any regrets about things I’d wanted to do and not got around to. A lot of it was to do with being able to deal with failure. If I didn’t achieve something, I resubmitted. If I found some new learning a bit tricky I waited behind and asked the teacher to explain it to me.”
Jana says that both she and fellow high-achiever Sage Andrews have managed their careers at school without sacrificing too much in the way of a social life.
“We’re both the daughters of solo mums and it hasn’t always been easy for us - some of our options have been cut down. In a funny way that has been a kind of advantage for us, I think. We both think ‘we’ve come too far to put our futures at risk’. I just remember that ‘ordinary’ or ‘near enough’ was never an option for me. My mum said the other day that I was a kind of free-range kid. There’s never been any pressure, but it has turned out to be the right kind of parenting for me.”
Jana also rates the positive effect that her teachers’ high expectations had on her.
“Sage and I shared the Junior Dux - ‘the duckling’ - in year 10, and although nothing is automatic, it kind of helped to have people expecting us to do well. I sometimes got a little bit of gentle pressure from people like Mr Compton just to let you know that he was aware and interested. It all helped.”
Jana will leave Golden Bay near the end of January and go to university in Auckland. She plans to flat with Sage Andrews, and some other Golden Bay young people are going too.
“I think 2012 could be the best year of our lives so far. We’re going to have five of us from the Bay in our flat. I’m going to study something that’s offered at Auckland, a Bachelor’s degree in Law and Health Science. I see myself working as a lawyer helping people in the health system.”
Jana describes herself as someone who relishes a challenge and who is not satisfied with second-best. “I’m quietly competitive and I don’t like things being too easy.”
Both Jana and Sage appreciate the education they received in the Bay.
“We’re perfect examples of small-school kids who did well. The teachers all know you and they help you. If you go in with the right attitude and treat people with respect, you can build good relationships with teachers.”
Neil Wilson
Valuable Keystone Trust Scholarship awarded to a “impressive” student
Sage Andrews really wants to be a town planner.
The hard-working, organised and motivated student who has just graduated from GBHS has won a $25,000 Keystone Trust scholarship to begin studying at Auckland University next year.
Mike Higgins, of Auckland, is the chairman of the Keystone Trust and has chaired the selection committee for 17 years. He said that the trust was delighted to be able support Sage in her studies.
“She’s one of the most impressive young people we’ve ever interviewed. She’s very focused and she will be a success. She’ll also become an asset to the trust when she goes on to mentor the students who follow in her footsteps.”
The Keystone Trust is set up to support young people who are intending to pursue careers broadly related to the property industry, so town planning certainly fits.
The trust provides $5000 a year for up to five years to selected students who maintain high grades to enable them to pursue their dreams. The trust also provides mentors and networks to their students and Mr Higgins says that, by year four or five, many students say that this is more valuable even than the money.
Sage heard about the trust through GBHS careers adviser Gareth Batten, who believed Sage was likely to be a serious contender for a scholarship.
“Mr Batten has definitely helped me a lot. He encouraged me to put in the hours to apply properly and I won an interview in Auckland on October 6. It was a great experience and I was really pleased to be offered the scholarship.”
Sage says that she has always had a dream of success and a clear understanding of what success would mean for her.
“It’s about having a job that I’m happy in, having the chance to manage and interact with people from different cultures. I like to plan and organise things. I’m naturally pretty bossy but I like to help motivate others to be part of things too.”
When she first investigated possible careers, Sage didn’t know what town planners did. A brief stint of work experience with the Wellington City Council planners convinced her that it was just the thing for her and now she is looking forward to leaving the Bay, going flatting in Auckland, pursuing her qualification and launching her career.
Neil Wilson
GOLDEN BAY HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR CLOSING CEREMONY 2011 – AWARDS LIST
Sports Awards. Senior Girls Swimming Champion, Senior Girls Athletics Champion, Senior Girls Cross Country Champion – Holly Johnson; Senior Boys Athletics Champion, Senior Boys Sprint Champion – Tommy Gross; Senior Boys Swimming Champion – Zak Gibbs; Senior Girls Sprint Champion – Lydia Freeman; Senior Boys Cross Country Champion – 1st Equal Oscar Stone and Ross Stocker; Chamberlain Trophy for Commitment and Contribution to GBHS Netball – Jana Cottle-McConnon and Luken Chamberlain; Outdoor Pursuits Trophy – Reece Potter.
Special Awards. Dux – Jana Cottle-McConnon; Proxime Accessit – Ruby Meiklejohn; Colin McDonald Award for Endeavour – Sage Andrews; MGS Charlton Plate and Prize awarded for Citizenship – Jana Cottle-McConnon; Golden Bay Community Plate for Sportspersonship – Kent Barrett; Arts Award – Phillippa Bowker-Napp; Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Award – Miriam Freeman.
Honours awards for worthy contribution to school life. Service & Citizenship – Luken Chamberlain and Nikita Buys.
Network Tasman Awards. Year 13: Kent Barrett – History, Physical Education; Sage Andrews – Digital Technologies, Economics. Year 12: Katie Milne – Chemistry, History, Art, Mathematics, Physics, English, Winner of the TAG Visual Arts Award; Jessie Renton – History. Year 11: Oliver Bailey – Social Sciences, Mathematics & Correspondence Japanese; Holly Johnson – Social Sciences, English, Science, Mathematics, Physical Education, Correspondence Japanese.
Honours Awards for Academic Excellence. Year 13: Jana Cottle-McConnon – Chemistry, Geography, English, Joint Winner of David Tunley Memorial Cup for Senior Chemistry; Ruby Meiklejohn – Chemistry, English, Biology, Joint Winner of David Tunley Memorial Cup for Senior Chemistry. Year 12: Oscar Stone – Biology; Phillippa Bowker-Napp – English; Dylan Winter – Outdoor Education; Ellie Kerrisk – Digital Technologies; Aiden Toder – Physical Education; Caydie Clarke – Digital Technologies; Luken Chamberlain – Contribution to Maori, Winner of Manawhenua Ki Mohua Trust Trophy; Holly Foxwell – Geography; Andrew Packard – Hospitality; Cameron Fleming – Technology. Year 11: Hamish Clark – Social Sciences, Art, Physical Education; Fynn Campbell-Bowden – Digital Technologies, Art; Tobias Joechle-Rings – Economics; Sam Goffriller – Hospitality, Technology.
Honours Awards for Diligence/Endeavour. Year 13: Kent Barrett – English; Sage Andrews – History, English, Geography; Miriam Freeman – Economics; Trent Pomeroy – Chemistry; Oscar Perry – Physical Education. Year 12: Phillippa Bowker-Napp – Art; Dylan Winter – English, Technology; Ellie Kerrisk – Biology, Business Studies; Blake Delaney – Trades; Caydie Clarke – Trades, Business Studies; Andrew Packard – English; Kristen Gill – Hospitality, Business Studies; Angelina McAlinden – Hospitality, Business Studies; Hamish Packard – Outdoor Education; Cameron Fleming – Outdoor Education; Danielle Parker – Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics; Ryan Winter – Mathematics, History; Izzak Marshall – English; Jessica Armstrong – Geography, Photography, Physical Education; Georgia Robertson-Bates – Maori; Elise Jacobsen – Business Studies; Leiria-Beth Hutchinson – Business Studies. Year 11: Oliver Bailey – Science, Art; Sam Goffriller – English; Lydia Freeman – Hospitality, English, Social Sciences; Kieran Davies – Physical Education, Technology; Victoria van Hilst – Hospitality, Social Sciences; Transition; Gina Udell – Economics; Desiree Hug – Social Sciences, Mathematics; Christopher Steer – Science, Technology; Yvette Broadhurst – Science, Mathematics; Jacob Utteridge – Science.
