Education: Westlake Girls High School
Bernina Young Fashion Awards
Talented Year 10 student Yeon Jae Choi has again proved to be a winning designer. She was awarded first place in the Emerging Creative category of the Bernina Young Fashion Awards competition.
The silk, tulle and organza costume was inspired by clowns and Korean fashion designer Andre Kim.
For her prize Yeon Jae receives a Bernina sewing machine, and the school receives Bernina products.
There were almost 450 entries in the competition from students all over the country. The judges commented “from her artwork to the final construction, an exceptionally high standard has been shown”.
Year 11 student Jordyn James-Maxwell was also a finalist in the Senior Technical category.
Sporting Excellence Awards
Westlake Girls High School held their Sporting Excellence Awards for 2011 with badminton player Anona Pak winning the Sportswoman of the Year.
Anona’s achievements this year are; New Zealand U19 Singles, Doubles & Mixed Doubles Champion, New Zealand Junior Oceania Team Champion,
Auckland U19 Open Doubles Champion, Greater Auckland Singles Champion, North Harbour U23 Open Girls Champion, North Harbour Wisden, U19 and U17 Team Representative and the U19 Waitakere Open Girls Singles & Open
Doubles Champion.
The event was held at Westlake Boys Auditorium with over 300 in attendance.
Guest speakers were Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown, the Women’s Coxless Pair that are the current World Champions.
Departing Principal Alison Gernhoefer was presented with a Contribution to Sport Award for her vision and commitment to sport at Westlake Girls.
The other Premier Cup winners were; Premier Badminton Team, Team of the Year; Stacey Wright Sporting All-rounder of the Year; John Howard, Coach of the Year; Alana Lythe, Junior Sportswoman of the Year; Sue Kjestrup, Volunteer of the Year; Stacey Wright & Victoria Lelo, Student Coaches of the Year.
KEEP getting bigger
Westlake Girls very own Young Enterprise Company, KEEP (Kids Emergency Evacuation Plan) has had a stella year. Their product, a children’s book that set out a plan for action in an earthquake and tsunami, proved to be a winner in the Northern Region Oral Presentation competition in May.
From there the girls published the book themselves, having it printed by Benefitz – publishers of Channel Magazine.
Sales were strong to local primary schools and also at the Takapuna Sunday market.
The next phase of the year was to prepare their annual report. As a result of their efforts they were recently made the Northern Region Young Enterprise Company of the Year while Shirley Ren the Managing Director was voted Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year. From here they move on to the National Final in Wellington on December 1st.
Westlake Girls Sport Complex Opens
Anne Tolley Minister of Education officially opened the Westlake Girls High School Sporting Complex in mid-November.
The complex includes three artificial turfs which comprise a blue hockey turf, two FIFA class artificial football fields, a cricket oval, two cricket nets and three dual purpose tennis and netball courts.
The blue hockey turf has been constructed by the same Australian firm, STI, who have constructed hockey fields for the Sydney, Beijing and London Olympics, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Obviously it is the state of the art technology and has aroused much interest in the New Zealand sporting world.
Not only will we provide splendid facilities for our own students because it is the first blue turf in Australasia but the Black Sticks want to use it for their Olympic preparation.
“The new sports complex including the covered courts has total costs of around $7.5 million and unlike many such projects parents won’t be dipping in to their pockets to pay for it,” said Westlake Girls Principal Alison Gernhoefer. “Neither will the Ministry of Education, as the complex has been paid for through the funds generated from the completion of negotiations for losing a significant proportion of our land. As a school, we have tried look on the positive side and to maximise the opportunities rather than feeling sorry for ourselves. For instance, to minimise the effect of losing a strip of land along the length of our motorway boundary, which affected the size and shape of our fields, by thinking laterally we have reconfigured the fields so that we have three all-weather turfs. This will enable us to make better and more frequent use of the fields as we will not be reliant on having good weather. The complex will provide facilities suitable for those at beginner and elite levels.
“I have always believed that education is about the whole student and it can take place in numerous settings, not just the traditional classroom experience. Sport allows students to develop sets of skills, but also to learn about themselves in different situations. This applies equally to cultural activities.”
Education: Kristin School
