Teen making a difference

Springbank School student Aliesha Whitehead receiving the Youth Spirit Award from Mayor John Carter (left) and Emily Beaton from Trustpower.

"I'm exhausted," Mayor John Carter said after hearing the citation for 2017 Trustpower Youth Spirit Award winner Aliesha Whitehead .

The head girl at Springbank School won over three other extraordinary finalists. The function at Te Ahu heard that she poured her initiative into her school, her community and even her own business.

Aliesha's teachers described her as positive, active and engaged.

In her role as head girl she supervised senior student support activities, and also contributed to the running of charity events, such as arranging for a group of senior students to attend the World Vision youth conference and the 40-Hour Famine.

She played a major role in organising and implementing a St Patrick's Day fundraiser for Hospice, and was CEO of the school team that renovated the conference room and library at Kerikeri Retirement Village.

"She is active in netball and hockey, and organises lunchtime sporting activities for Year 7-8 classes at school," the citation said.

She led the annual school camp, helped organise the senior ball and a 'Trashion' show (where students competed to design clothing from recycled goods), and was a school representative for the Model United Nations Assembly."

Outside school she ran a weekly group for teenage girls, organising speakers, movie nights, camps and day trips to help the girls build their self-esteem. She visited Vanuatu as part of a group that built kindergartens for villages, and developed lasting friendships with those communities.

She sang with a church band and led a youth band, and also ran her own beekeeping business, a very demanding part-time job that had given her a professional presence in the community.

"Aliesha has mastered the art of being an inclusive leader who demonstrates that she values the ideas of others. In her own words, Aliesha believes in making a positive difference in the lives of those around her.

"The reward is knowing she's helped to improve someone's life and the community," it concluded.

Runner-up for the award was Okaihau College student Shaniah Flood, with Bay of Islands College head boy Lukas George and Kaitaia College student Te Amo-haere Rudolph, who died earlier this year, the other finalists.