At the time of writing, 6 students have been awarded their Award at Bronze Level this year, with a further few students with only a few more hours to complete.

Three students have gained their Silver Award and are starting on their Gold. All these students have shown great commitment towards completing their Awards, especially as there have been restrictions on some activities during lockdown and at different Covid Levels.

An ex-student Piper Pengelly (Year 13 in 2020) completed her Gold Award, finishing her final few hours alongside her new life at university.

Highlights for an Award leader always include reading the wonderful comments written by assessors for each of the sections that the students participate in. These reports show the improvements students have made in the various skills and physical activities they have chosen, and the dedication to helping others during their service section.

Highlights for students always seem to come during their Adventurous Journey section where they are often challenged both physically and mentally to complete the journeys. For some, the greatest achievement is cooking a tasty meal over a camp stove and for others, it is navigating an unknown trail. Crossing rivers, surviving swamps and sandflies and marveling in the scenery all rate highly in their accounts of the trips. All come back having learnt more about themselves and how to work as a team to achieve a common goal.

The photos and commentary from three of our students show some of their highlights of their trips.

From Gabriella Cowell - Bronze Adventurous Journey trips with Bushworks NZ