Elsie Clarke
At the age of 10, her mum signed her up for a horse-riding lesson, and since then she has developed a love for animals and agriculture.
The 17-year-old has focused her academic studies along the same lines, and gained exceptional results in agriculture and horticultural science, the primary trades, chemistry, and maths.
Next year, she plans to study veterinary science at Massey University.
She was looking forward to ‘‘working with animals and being outside all the time’’.
Although Elsie only began schooling at Tokomairiro High School last year, she immediately made her presence felt.
As well as excelling academically, she was the senior girls athletics and cross-country champion last year.
She had also displayed her leadership skills as a prefect this year.
Her approach was to make sure she had fun doing what she did, and that others had fun too.
She said she always worked hard when things got tough.
Completing the Duke of Edinburgh awards and claiming a gold award this year required her to have a lot of resilience.
It taught her a lot about not giving up and making sure she finished what she started.
Achievements
Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award (2024); NCEA level 2 endorsed with merit (2023); He Taonga Kairangi Award agriculture and horticultural science (2023); Primary Productions Discipline Thinking Award (2023); senior girls athletics champion (2023); senior girls cross-country champion (2023); Ross House captain (2023); prefect (2024); peer support (2024); Outward bound (2023); Spirit of Adventure (2024); Young women in leadership course (2023); First in level 1 agriculture and horticulture Science and Primary Trades Academy (2022); First in level 2 chemistry and mathematics with statistics (2023); equestrian (2016- present).
Role models
Parents Hester and Daniel Clarke.
Hopes for the future
To be helpful to others.
Wyatt Mallon
He stumbled into a co-captaincy role in Tokomairiro High School’s First XI hockey team after its captain was injured during tournament a last year.
He learned helping his team-mates improve gave him just as much joy as playing the game itself.
‘‘I know it’s just another way to help out with the team.’’
His approach to leadership was to give everyone a fair shot, look for ways his team-mates could improve and do his best to help them make those improvements, Wyatt said.
This year he was also the head prefect at Tokomairiro.
He found being head boy challenging but he relied on his solid team of prefects to help him out.
It was important to him to balance his responsibilities as a leader with his sporting and academic goals, he said.
A strong will to never give up and to take the opportunities in front of him was what helped him persevere.
He believed he got those qualities from his parents.
Next year he was planning on studying architecture at Otago Polytechnic.
Achievements
Head prefect (2024); captain of 1st XI hockey team; Rotary Science and Technology Forum member; peer support member; Dickinson Citizenship Shield; Burgess Award for Services to Sport; senior boys cross-country champion (2023); first in art, English, outdoor education and hard materials technology in year 12; first in art and hard materials technology in year 11; South Otago High School rugby.
Role models
Parents Rebecca and Tony Mallon.
Hopes for the future
To have helped at least a few people along the way.
