Here we celebrate student achievement and showcase activities our students are involved in around college.

ROTARY SPEECH COMPETITION 

A huge congratulations to Isobel Smith, Year 13, who won not only the Central Otago round of the Rotary Speech Competition, but the district round as well. She is now the winner for the entire lower South Island! Isobel spoke on the topic of lowering the voting age to 16. 

LEVEL ONE OP

One of our Level 1 OP classes had the chance to make the most of the fabulous weather last week with an overnight trip to Meadow Hut. 

LEVEL THREE VISUAL DESIGN

Poster design for raincoat lab 'DRIP' by Ashley MacCulloch

FOOTBALL

MAC boys 1st XI had a 5-1 win in a friendly against Wakatipu on Sunday. The match was part of the lead up to winter tournament for both teams so both were trialing lots of different line ups and formations.

Goals from Ben McNabb, Weston Bell, Charlie McKean, Ethan Arratia and Xion Lippe gave the boys a comfortable win and a small psychological advantage heading into the inter-school fixture on Wednesday 19 August. 

YEAR SEVEN SCIENCE FAIR

In the last week of Term 2 the Year 7's held a science fair where they showcased their investigations. It was really pleasing to see the wonderful ideas of all the students displayed.

Congratulations to the following students:

First Place - Tasmin Murphy. 'Weighted Launcher'

Second place: Belinda Hope 'Melting Madness'

Third place: Tommy Cotter and Bradley Groves 'What Materials are Best to Silence a Sound?'

Highly commended:Ashley Beaton, Domenico Robinson, Ruby Smith, Huxley Herring, Dougal McConnell, Phoebe Laker, Ethan Highsted / Callan Wilson, Rhian Telfer / Sienna Marsden, Mikayla Botting, Elvis Boyd, Max Bagley, Nico Pettit, Eden McKay, Oli Wyeth / George Simonsohn. 

Student choice awards: Jacob Toomey, Zoe Gumpatzes, Lauren Bensemann, Domenico Robinson, Sophie Fountain, Kaitlyn Tooley, Sophia Menlove, Cooper Arkell, Bjani Speers, Riley Miller, Georgina Titterton, Ashley Beaton

CENTRAL OTAGO SCIENCE FAIR 

Last Thursday we had 26 year seven students attend the Central Otago Science Fair held at the Lake Wanaka Centre. There were many interesting science investigations and we are really proud of the students and their achievements. Congratulations to everyone who took  part!

Front Row: L-R. Huxley Herring, Priya White, Zoe Gumpatzes

Back Row: L-R. Dougal McConnell, Max Bagley, Mikayla Botting, Eden McKay, Rhian Telfer, Phoebe Laker, Ruby Smith

CHESSPOWER OTAGO REGIONALS 

On Monday 3 August eighteen Mount Aspiring Students competed in the Central Otago Chess Qualifier competition. Often the biggest challenge for young players is taking time to weigh up options and risks and chess competitions are an ideal proving ground. Breaking the habits of instant reaction honed in video games takes time and practice! I was very proud of all the students in their tenacity, especially those that bounced back from early defeats and those that salvaged victory from dangerous positions. Everyone felt they gained much from the experience. We had a good share of success, taking first and third in the senior grade, as well as third in the intermediate grade. Full results are available here.

Senior teams

Alpha: Giovanni Austin-Moorhouse, Max Knight, Matthew Botting, Kyan Prince

Beta: Harriet Sargood-Ross,  Ethan Prince, Carlos Parker

Intermediate teams

Gamma: Jack Wyeth, Barnes Metcalfe, Tom Bankshaw, George Holland

Delta: Don-Caro Austin-Moorhouse, Tommy Cotter, Felix Eastwood, George Sargood-Ross

Epsilon: Ben Bankshaw, Connor Eley, Jacob Gould, Jake O'Connor