Carmel has always had a reputation for outstanding academic results. We are one of the top performing schools, based on NCEA results, in the country. And we are very proud of that achievement. But these ‘ridiculously good’ results are a by-product of what underpins everything we do here at the college.
We proudly proclaim that we provide a top quality Catholic education for girls, in the Mercy tradition. And this was clearly evident in these recent weeks, as we farewelled our class of 2018 leavers. Our final ceremony is our whole school Thanksgiving Mass where the Year 13 class process out with the light of Christ in the candles in their hands, singing the Galilee song – as they ‘leave their boats behind, leave them on familiar shores’, they leave us as women of Mercy, prepared to challenge and shape the future.
Young Enterprise Scheme
Alping U Ski Sock Business Success for Students
Earlier this year, four Year 13 students - Emma Welte, Eden Alter, Isobella Nicholls and Steffy Henry Albert - created a Young Enterprise Scheme business group, setting up a company ‘Alping U’.
YES is a programme where students are able to set up their own business ventures. They have worked hard throughout this year to create their first product, the Ski Sock. This is a product used to carry around a pair of skis comfortably and pain-free, providing convenience for skiers.
Throughout this year, their hard work has paid off with some great achievements. At the end of Term 3, the team entered into iDEAStarter, a competition set up for 15-24 year-old entrepreneurs throughout New Zealand, in which they pitched their innovative idea to a panel of business experts. The girls ended up walking away from this national competition with 1st place in the 15-18 category, winning a range of prizes worth $10,000 including scholarships to Massey University, entry to a nine-week entrepreneur programme at AUT and Accounting Mentoring from Chartered Accountant.
They also applied to the Ministry of Youth Development for funding to help get the business up and running. Their request was successful and MYD agreed to help them out in the form of $8,500.
In November at the 2018 YES Auckland Regional Awards, Alping U won the Regional Excellence in Product Development Award and the Company of the Year for the North Auckland region! The girls will now go to Wellington to compete for the National Award.
Z Club
The Carmel Z Club is a small group of Year 12 and 13 students who are affiliated with Zonta Auckland, North Shore and Zonta International. Zonta is a women’s service organisation with the mission of to “Empower women through service and advocacy” - that is to have a Global Impact through local action.
This year the Carmel College Z club has; undertaken fundraising to promote local and international projects, promoted women’s health issues, particularly breast cancer awareness through fun activities and personalised messages, worked with the local Chapter of Days for Girls to make and assemble 40+reusable hygiene kits for distribution in Madagascar.
The project aims to help the recipients to continue their schooling while menstruating and in so doing assist with a Zonta International project to promote schooling in Madagascar. This project was spearheaded by Nadeen Amso, a Year 13 Technology student who helped the Z Club to scale up production. Other students involved were Felicia Indrawidjaja, Gislaine Dushime, Akenese Vagana, Maddy George and Christeen Kadhir. A number of other students also helped by spending many afternoons after school sewing.
