In February the school acknowledged our top achievers from 2016 at our Academic Honours assembly. To receive an Honours award a student must gain an excellence endorsement for their NCEA with at least 60 credits at excellence or with at least 2 subjects endorsed at excellence.
We were thrilled that there were 57 recipients this year:
| Level 1 Academic Honours:
Elise Barlow Rachel Brebner Teri Dawson Eli Dunn Jasmin Dunn Jackson Fowler McKenzie Frear Duncan Hendry Ronan Hendry Parisa Khodabandeh Ethan Mackay Hannah Mahon Jemma Main Grace McColgan Emma McDonnell Jordan Oxenham Estera Paul Brianna Perkins Jessica Phayer Jessica Robinson Lilli Scott Jessica Skudder Abigail Speight Thomson, Caitlin Treanor, Jessica Daisy Vahey-Bourne William Warnock Christina Zingel |
Level 2 Academic Honours
Emma Abbot Ella Akkerman Breanna Brooker Millie Burton Jack Cameron Grace Egan Millie Elliott Brendan Fletcher Brianna Gauldie Petra Gough Petra Granitzer Aileen Harwood Alexander Hawkes Olivia Hooper Lucy Houghton Samantha Johnson Emily Kellett Loretta Knights Phoebe MacIntyre Sophie McCulloch Olivia McManaway Natasha Read Jarod Schneebeli Josef Schuler Lily Smythe Torben Stovold Isobel Straffon Charlotte Strang Sam Wylie |
Our speaker for the event was Jonathan Barnard (Aquinas College 2005 – 2011).
In 2016 Jonathan won a prestigious Woolf Fisher scholarship to study his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University. His proposed research will involve investigating the dynamics and reactivity of underwater methane plumes from deep sea methane hydrate deposits and will contribute towards solving global warming and the energy crisis.
He has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, majoring in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering from Massey University. He studied at Aquinas College in Tauranga and is currently working in a safety and risk engineering position with Worley Parsons, an engineering company, in New Plymouth.
Jonathan has held a number of leadership roles including captaining the 1st XI football team, and last year was the National Chair of Student Engineers New Zealand, reporting to the CEO of the Institute of Professional Engineers.
Jonathan spoke to our students about his time at Aquinas College and urged them to be fully involved in school life. He let students know that it is never too late to adapt and pick up new learning – recounting his experience with picking up Calculus in his final year at school. He also encouraged our students in relation to the school touchstones – particularly the touchstone of Service. Jonathan recounted his involvement with the Fiji service trip and how it had opened his eyes to the needs of those less fortunate and the opportunities that we have in New Zealand. It was a real pleasure to have Jonathan return to address our students and we wish him all the best in his future studies.
The photo is of Jonathan Barnard receiving his Woolf Fisher award with the Chair of the Woolf Fisher Trust, Sir Noel Robinson
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