Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh Awards:

● Jade Askin (Bronze)
● Kate Barber (Bronze)
● Jiya Bothra (Bronze)
● Zara Carne (Bronze)
● Viana Garnevska-Keall (Bronze)
● Eve Hill (Bronze)
● Adelle Ballantyne (Silver)

Here are some reflections about the award experience:

Bronze DOE: Jade Askin:

I completed my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award last year. I really enjoyed participating in the award and had lots of fun while completing my four sections. To complete my service I helped an elderly friend, she had broken her arm a few months earlier and I helped her with her gardening and cleaning. For my skill I had piano lessons and learnt some awesome new pieces that I’ve wanted to play for a long time. For my physical recreation I joined the Manawatu Archery Club and went to the shooting range every Sunday morning. I met a nice group of people and even competed in some bare-bow competitions, and by the end of the year I managed to increase my shooting distance to 35m. Finally, for my adventurous journey I went on two hikes with a group of friends. The highlight of my award was the hiking in the desert road, there was amazing scenery and we had lots of fun!

Bronze DOE: Kate Barber

For the Bronze Duke of Ed Award I completed four sections; skill, service, physical recreation and an adventurous journey. For my skill I did Creative Writing and each week I wrote a new poem and I entered some of them into competitions. For service I did multiple things, I volunteered at my old school's trail bike ride fundraiser and helped return and put back books at Foxton Library. But the main service I did was volunteering at the Manawatu Cricket Association by coaching a dual pitch team, helping set up before and after Manawatu cricket games and helping out with the Coastal Cougars team. My major section which I did for 23 hours was Physical Recreation and I did Cricket and Netball. I played cricket for PNGHS and Manawatu and played Netball for Girls High on Saturday mornings. For my adventurous journeys I did it all at Makahika and went tramping through the bush and learnt how to use a map and compass as well as other key navigation skills. Overall I really enjoyed doing Bronze Duke of Ed and felt I improved a lot during the whole process. But the highlight of the award for me was being able to follow my passions and do the award with great people. Because without them it’d make the whole experience less fun and less memorable. (And there was no way I’d be able to survive tramping in the bush in the dark by myself!)

Bronze DOE: Jiya Bothra

In 2021, I participated in the bronze Duke of Edinburgh. Within this I was required to complete a skill, service, physical recreation and various adventurous journeys. For my skill I decided to pick up a new artistic skill, and started cross-stitching as a pastime activity. For my service I fundraised for the ‘I Am Hope’ charity, umpired for an intermediate netball team, and volunteered at Youth Space. For my physical recreation, I played netball within the Girls’ High team. My personal highlight of the Duke of Edinburgh Award was going for our final expedition journey to Waihohonu hut, where we went to Tama Lake. It was so cold, it had an icy layer with tons of snow everywhere. We had a snowball fight and made snowmen, something I’ve always wanted to do! Participating in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh was truly a wonderful experience which helped me step out of my comfort zone to try new things, and pushed me to my personal limits. I learnt many new skills along the way, such as taking compass bearings and map skills as well as meeting some awesome people along the way, who share my interests. I’m looking forward to Silver DOE, where hopefully I can grow my knowledge and skills!

Bronze DOE: Zara Carne

I completed the Bronze Duke of Ed Award in 2021 completing a skill, service, physical recreation and adventurous journeys. For my skill I did saxophone, logging weekly concert band practises as well as practising at home. For my service I did 2 different activities and it was my major activity (meaning 26 hrs instead of 13hrs like the other two), the first one being volunteering at my church where I looked after kids 0-4yrs on a Sunday which I really enjoyed as I love little kids, and secondly I volunteered at youth space with a friend once a week and did a variety of jobs to help them out including cleaning, going over to the library and odd jobs. For my physical recreation I did contemporary dance. I was in one of the junior contemporary groups at Diversity Dance Company here at PNGHS. My highlight of the award was getting out into the community to lend a helping hand and also the fun adventurous journeys with some awesome people. The navigational skills we learned were really interesting and something that I can develop further in future Duke of Ed awards.

Bronze DOE: Viana Garnevska-Keall

In December 2021 I achieved my bronze Duke of Ed Award after completing a service, skill, adventurous journeys and a physical recreation. For my service I completed two activities as this was my major activity. For the first half, I volunteered at the Youth Space by the Palmerston North Library. There, I shelved books, created different activities for my peers to participate in and just did jobs around the centre which needed to be done. For my second half of my service, I decided to coach kids at Carncot School in badminton. Having played badminton myself, it was easy for me to become their mentors and teach them different skills for badminton. For my physical recreation, I played netball. Seeing as I already enjoy netball, I decided it would be a good idea to use this as my skill. I played every Saturday morning in term 2 and 3. For my skill, seeing as we were in lockdown, I decided to work on my typing. It has really helped me develop into a much faster typer. For my adventurous journeys, I went to Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre and we tramped out to Archie’s Lookout. Then on my qualifying journey, I went over to Mount Holdsworth and walked to the summit. It was great fun! I'm really looking forward to moving onto my silver this year!

Bronze DOE: Eve Hill

In January 2022 I completed my bronze Duke of Ed Award after six months of hard work. I achieved this amazing accomplishment by reading for one hour a week for thirteen weeks, running for one hour a week for thirteen weeks, and volunteering at church for one hour a week for twenty six weeks. To complete the award I had to do an adventurous journey, which was two nights and three days. I found this journey to be extremely enjoyable and I loved every minute of it. I made so many new friends and memories that I will never forget. I am so grateful that I was given this opportunity and took it. I am now moving on to doing my silver Duke of Ed and cannot wait for the adventures journey!