A prestigious evening celebrating the successes of our top scholars at Hamilton Girls' High School.

Staff, students and whānau gathered together on the 1st of November to celebrate the amazing mahi of our ākonga throughout the year. 

The evening began with Te Maurea Whiritoi welcoming in our staff and esteemed guests. From there, the new Board of Trustees Chairperson Carissa McCay addressed the audience, thanking students and staff for the year, and giving special mention to Ms Gordon's ten year service as Principal.

Ms Gordon then shared her address, encouraging us to strive for a gender-equal world, and pointing out the importance of developing strong character and focusing on what lies within us, quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us". Ms Gordon's speech is available for you to read in the October Edition of Te Puāwaitanga in the 'From the Principal's Desk' article.

Then it was the Year Level Awards section of the evening, celebrating students who received Diligence and Distinction certificates in their respective subjects. 

We were treated to multiple musical performances throughout the night, with both our Year 13 Performance Music group and our guitar group "The Star Guitars" performing.

Once the Year Level Awards were announced, Rebecca Yuan shared her Head Girl address, thanking those who have helped her throughout her time at HGHS and encouraging students to continue to be courageous and live life with curiosity.

The Student Executive and Prefects Team were thanked for their service and leadership throughout the year. The 2022 Student Executive Team then were welcomed on stage to receive the World Vision Most Creative Fundraising Award.

It was then time to announce next year's Student Executive team.

Sonninghill Hostel Head Girl: Payton Cook

Arts Captain: Reipae Dunn

Sports Captain: Madeline Cox

Service Captain: Asiya Mohamed

Academic Captain: Kennedy Hosking

Student Council Captain: Freya Kardas

Deputy Head Girl: Freya Kardas

Head Girl: Eila Posimani-McCay

Mr Wood announced the 2022 Special Awards, before celebrating all students who received scholarships for further study. We were privileged to have Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori, Dr Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai present the University of Waikato Scholarships. This number of  scholarships won this year was particularly impressive, with over $600,000 being awarded to talented ākonga.

Finally, the Top Academic Awards were presented. These awards were read by Ms Gordon and presented by Board of Trustees Chairperson Carissa McCay.

Congratulations to the Proxime Accessit, runner-up to the Academic Dux, Jodie Sharples.

And our most prestigious award, Academic Dux of 2022 for the highest-ranking academic student of the year was awarded to Emma Thien. 

A full list of award winners from the night is available here. Congratulations to all our prizewinners for the amazing effort this year.