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(L-R) Daniel Watt and Blair Wright
 

Old Boys in the news

SBHS —

Daniel Watt and Blair Wright

Daniel Watt who attended SBHS from 2012 to 2016, has been recognised as the top graduating economics student from an undergraduate programme in New Zealand, winning a cash prize of $3500 towards ongoing postgraduate study.

“It is a great honour to receive the award, and I am sure that this will help greatly in my future career. I am also very excited to be heading back to UC for my Master’s degree. It will be great to meet all my old lecturers again and get back into doing theoretical economics,” said Daniel.

The award, presented by the former Chair of the New Zealand Reserve Bank, Professor Arthur Grimes, at a formal ceremony in Wellington on 22 October, is funded by Motu, the country’s leading think-tank on economic affairs.

Daniel completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Canterbury (UC) with a double major in Economics and Computer Science. He was also awarded the Sir George Grey Scholarship in 2019 as the top Science graduate. He plans to return to UC to undertake a Master’s degree in Economics in 2021.

Blair Wright attended SBHS from 2015 to 2018.  

Blair, an apprentice butcher at Peter Timbs Meats, recently won a prestigious national award; the apprentice category at the Retail Meats New Zealand National Butchery Competition in Auckland. He was the youngest competitor, having only just turned 19.

Blair says butchery is a challenging and rewarding career path that he highly recommends.

He also took out the top spot at the ANZCO Foods (Asian New Zealand Meat Company) Butcher Apprentice of the Year competition, upper South Island, last month on his way to the final in Auckland.

Competitors were  judged on speed, efficiency and presentation. A two-hour cutting test required competitors to keep their nerve and showcase their expertise in front of a team of eight judges.

In addition to this, the apprentices were also expected to complete a 30-question, multiple-choice exam and an interview with the judges as part of their route to glory.