Hawke's Bay schools have a diverse range of academic talent that has been recognised in 2023.
Who were the students who shined the brightest through a year punctured by Cyclone Gabrielle? Hawke’s Bay Today asked secondary schools in the region to highlight the achievements of their 2023 Dux.
Tamatea High School - Angel Dean
Kia ora koutou. Ko Angel Dean toku ingoa.
I am proud to be the Amokura Tuarua and the Student Representative on the Tamatea High School Board of Trustees.
I have received Merit and Excellence endorsements in NCEA Level 1 and 2, I have been a member of our ball committees, the Student Alumni team, our Tuakana-Teina (mentoring) programmes and I have assisted with our school’s open days.
Along with our team of Amokura, I have helped to run our full-school assemblies to keep them interesting for our ākonga. In my role on the board of trustees, I have helped implement changes in our school uniform to ensure everyone feels comfortable and included, no matter how they identify.
Tamatea High School is a whānau, it is my whānau, and everyone at Tamatea has helped me get to where I am now. They have pushed me, encouraged me, and shown me that I can do it and now, here I am, getting ready to start my career.
In 2024, I will attend the University of Otago to study health sciences. My mind is set on becoming a physiotherapist and my siblings are my inspiration.
Three of my siblings have a rare genetic disorder that affects them in many different ways.
I have watched my brothers grow up and make significant progress with their physical health due to the help of physios. I want to be like these physios, I want to help people in need, and I want to give back to my community by supporting people to live their best lives.
I will be the first person in my close family to attend university and I can’t wait to make them all proud. I want to inspire my younger sisters and others who are in similar situations, to show them no matter where they come from or what their circumstances are, they can achieve anything they put their minds to.
Hastings Boys’ High School - Henry Massingham
Henry attended Havelock North Intermediate before starting at Hastings Boys’ High School in 2019.
It was clear from the start Henry would be an asset to our school in many ways. He is a talented and confident young man who has always upheld our values of what it is to be an Ākina Man (courage, communication, initiative, diligence, integrity, respect and empathy).
Therefore it was no surprise Henry was appointed Deputy Head Boy for 2023. He also made a huge contribution to the school on the sports field, taking part in rugby, orienteering, and golf, but it was in volleyball he really succeeded.
Henry is a great academic student, passing NCEA Level 1,2 and 3 with excellence and his marks earned him the Dux award for 2023. He is enrolled in 2024 at the University of Canterbury to study engineering.
Congratulations to Henry, a fine young man.
Woodford House - Meghan Wuisan
Woodford House’s 2023 Dux is academic prefect, Meghan Wuisan.
A school spokesperson said Meghan was “highly deserving” of the award.
“Meghan has excelled in all four cornerstones of school life in her seven years at Woodford House. She has shone in all academic spheres which includes the Humanities, STEM and Creative Arts. A very well-rounded student with a high work ethic, Meghan is also a talented pianist and capable artist.”
The student won the Supreme/Best in Exhibition Award at the 2023 Art Hawke’s Bay Annual Exhibition, the first time a high-school student had won the category.
She will attend Melbourne University this year to begin a Bachelor of Science, majoring in computing.
St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College - Holley Carlson
Whakapapa
Ko Kahuranaki, ko Tongariro ngā maunga
Ko Tukituki, ko Tongariro ngā awa
Ko Houngarea, ko Mihiroa, ko Taraia, ko Hirangi ngā marae
Ko Takitimu, ko Te Arawa ngā waka
Ko Ngāti Ngarengare, ko Ngāti Te Rangiita ngā hapū
Ko Ngāti Kahungunu, ko Ngāti Tūwharetoa ngā iwi
Ko Te Pakipakitanga o Hinetemoa te papakāinga
Achievements
1st in Biology, English, Business Studies, History, Year 13 Excellence 2023.
Holley will attend Otago University to study law and conjointly psychology and Māori studies.
Lindisfarne College - Leo Guo
Lindisfarne College is delighted to announce that Dux for 2023 is Leo Guo. Leo is a very worthy recipient of this award as he has achieved an outstanding grade point average of 100 per cent across his five best Level Three subjects.
Leo has taken six subjects for Level Three and all of the credits sat at this level have been awarded with Excellence. In addition to this, Leo has come first in class in five of his six subjects and was additionally awarded the Halstead Medallion for Excellence as a science student and Academic Colours with Distinction.
Over his school career, Leo has been awarded all three levels of NCEA with Excellence endorsements.
While still in Year 12, Leo won the senior Proxime Accessit award and earned two scholarships in chemistry and accounting.
Leo will sit eight Scholarship exams in addition to his six NCEA subjects at the end of 2023. The college is enormously proud of Leo and his achievements and offers him heartiest congratulations.
Taradale High School - Olivia Knowles
Olivia has had a successful and busy time at Taradale High School as Deputy Head Girl. She was named Dux with first in biology, geography, mathematics with statistics and Endeavour in physics.
She won the University of Otago Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship and the OU Dux scholarship, worth $20,000.
Olivia has also played in THS 1st X1 girls’ hockey team, and has been a peer support leader and a keen debater.
In 2024 Olivia is heading to Otago University to study health sciences.
Flaxmere College - Karlleah Sullivan Sciascia
Karlleah has achieved an Excellence in Level 3 Health, Ngā Tikanga and physical education.
She is a capable athlete across several codes, a sport coach and manager, is a member of the 2023 student executive and is a Hawke’s Bay student sports councillor.
Karlleah is attending Victoria University to study biomedical science.
Napier Girls’ High School - Nicole Bewick
Napier Girls’ High School is proud to announce the winners of the gold medals for its two most prestigious prizes for 2023: Dux of the School and the Shand Cup for Scholarship, Character, Conduct, Accomplishment and Sport.
The 2023 Dux is Nicole Bewick. Nicole has proven herself to be an outstanding student during her school life with awards for all-around academic excellence every year. She gained first place in classical studies, media studies and drama this year. She also gained an NZQA Scholarship in English in 2022 as a Year 12 student.
Nicole was Drama Prefect this year, performing in regional and national competitions, and she is also a talented debater and musician.
Head Prefect Leini Briggs is the winner of the Shand Cup. Alongside a fine academic record, Leini has been involved at the highest levels in Waka Ama, Kapa Haka, Hockey 1st 11, Kī-o-Rahi, Dance and Netball.
Leini also had a lead role in the school musical and is a talented public speaker.
Leini exemplifies the NGHS values of Manaakitanga (showing respect and care for others), Whānaunatanga (forming and maintaining relationships) and Kairangi Whaiaro (personal excellence), and she has been an exceptional role model.
Sacred Heart College - Amelia Murphy
Being awarded Dux is the culmination of five years of hard work for Sacred Heart College student Amelia Murphy.
The Year 13 student was recognised with the college’s top academic award at the final prizegiving on December 8.
Amelia also won the Dr Roshan Perera Award for Excellence in Level 3 Science and Mathematics, and the Senior Sciences Cup. She also achieved distinction in all five of her subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, calculus and religious studies.
It continues her successful academic record over the past few years: she was awarded top in Year 11 and 12 and achieved an excellence endorsement across all three levels.
As a result, she was one of two academic leaders this year.
“I feel like I have been working so hard over the last five years and it’s just amazing to actually get it,” the 18-year-old said.
“It just gives me more motivation to keep going and try my best.”
She credits her success to the support of her family and the teachers at Sacred Heart.
“When I got into the senior years of high school, I saw the potential and my teachers at school really pushed me to go even further.
“I have had some cool opportunities like being able to participate in the Otago University Science Academy as well as the Biology Olympiad.”
Amelia was awarded a Massey University Undergraduate First Year Scholarship – School Leavers and will study a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in Palmerston North.
Outside the classroom, she played in the 1st XI Football Team and is working towards her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Principal Maria Neville-Foster says Amelia is deserving of all the accolades she has achieved.
“We are all very proud of Amelia and the hard work and dedication she has shown throughout her time at Sacred Heart.”
St John’s College - Abel Bincy
Abel Bincy credits being awarded Dux at St John’s College to his parents, who emigrated from India to New Zealand to give him and his brother a better life.
“It feels like a big blessing. I am really grateful for such a well-recognised award, especially where my family come from.
“My parents come from a low-socioeconomic area in India where it’s hard to make a good living and they came all the way here to provide for us so that we can work hard and succeed in life.”
He says this has been a big motivator in his drive to succeed.
The 18-year-old was presented the prestigious academic award at the St John’s College prizegiving in November. His father Bincy Uthup and mother Smitha Bincy were in attendance.
Abel achieved First in Accounting with Excellence, First in Geography with Excellence, First in History with Excellence, First in Values, Ethics and Theology with Excellence and Excellence in Level 3 English.
During his time at St John’s College, he achieved Level 1 and 2 with Excellence and was an Academic Prefect this year. He was nominated for the Best Asian Secondary School Student category at the Hawke’s Bay Multicultural Association’s Asians in the Bay Awards.
Outside the classroom, he played badminton and cricket, and was heavily involved with pastoral and religious work including through the Parish, Young Vinnies, and Catholic Character.
“I’m proud to represent my Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church over the past few years.”
He says the school has been very supportive in his journey.
“It’s a good environment. The teachers especially over these last five years have helped me a lot.”
He will now follow in the footsteps of his brother Alan, a St John’s College old boy (2016-2020), who was the first in their family to go to university.
Abel was offered scholarships from four universities, including the University of Otago Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship.
Next year he will begin a double degree in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) at the University of Otago.
Karamū High School - Lena Ormsby
Lena Ormsby, Head Student of Karamū High School, is academically an outstanding student, placing Top in Year 12 with the 2022 best NCEA results, and now Dux for 2023. With a GPA of 100 per cent, Lena has proven her success is not limited to the classroom.
She has been a member of the Hastings Youth Council for three years, was the chairwoman in 2022 and the 2023 chair adviser. Lena is a member of Parliament’s youth reference group, Rito o te Paremata, made up of eight under-21-year-olds from across the country.
She is a superb public speaker, being national runner-up in the Race Unity Speech Awards, and winner of the Tohu Eke Panuku – Human Rights Commission Award for Impact. Lena is the region’s only three-time Ngā Manu Kōrero Senior Winner across both Prepared and Impromptu sections. Her Young Enterprise business Posie Papers, was Hawke’s Bay Company of the Year and National Finalist. Lena also received the Lions Foundation Young Achiever’s award.
She has been awarded the National Te Ara a Kupe Beaton Scholarship and Auckland University Top Achiever’s Scholarship both valued at $25,000. Lena is passionate about empowering and mentoring rangatahi and is an inspiration in our school and community.
Iona College - Imogen Hosford
Imogen Hosford was awarded Iona College Dux for 2023. She has had an exceptional academic year at Iona as well as being a greatly respected leader, who has carried the responsibility of Head Girl with grace and distinction.
Imogen’s leadership has left an indelible mark on Iona, encapsulating the true essence of the Iona spirit through her love, enthusiasm, and passion for the school.
Imogen’s outstanding abilities span a wide range of subject areas, earning her a remarkable collection of awards in 2023, including:
• The Benge Cup for Biology
• The Campbell Speech Cup
• The Craig Cup for English
• The Crenfeldt Senior Science Cup
• The Heauser Cup for Calculus
• The Marshall Cup for Chemistry
• The Meade Writing Cup
• The Shannon Debating Cup
• The Phyllis Wedd Memorial Award
• Mills Cup for Head of School
• The prestigious Victoria University Tangiwai Scholarship.
Her accomplishments stand as a testament to her unwavering pursuit of excellence and her invaluable contributions to the Iona community.
Havelock North High School - Tapas Kant
Tapas is a young man with a bright future. In 2022, as a Year 12 student, he was awarded Dux, having gained scholarships in biology, statistics and physics and outstanding scholarships in calculus and chemistry.
Tapas also competed in the maths, biology and chemistry Olympiads; all as a 15-year-old. Tapas competed for New Zealand in the First Tech Robotics Championships in Houston, US, in 2023, and was selected by the Royal Society Te Apārangi (Royal Society New Zealand) to represent New Zealand at the International Science School in Sydney.
In 2023, Tapas entered 10 scholarships and, impressively, he was awarded Havelock North High School Dux for the second year.
Tapas is an exemplary student. His behaviour, attitude and work habits are highly impressive as is his respectful appreciation and quiet humility.
Tapas has a remarkable capacity for learning and he can master new and challenging concepts with relative ease.
At the same time, he is prepared to apply himself to any task and appreciates the time and energy required to reach academic excellence.
Tapas backs up his capacity for higher-order thinking with an organised and self-disciplined approach to learning. In addition, his maturity, inquisitive nature, and thoughtful disposition will stand him in good stead in his future endeavours.
In the future, Tapas intends to study medicine overseas.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.