Nine secondary school students across Nelson Tasman have been awarded a Sir Wallace Rowling Scholarship this year, totalling $16,500.
Network Tasman Charitable Trust established the scholarship in 1997, in memory of Sir Wallace Rowling, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, who was also a Network Tasman Trust chairman and director of Tasman Energy.
This year, the trust voted to increase the annual amount available, so nine students, instead of the usual four, have received the scholarship.
“We are all aware how tough it is to get through the costs of tertiary education these days, and the $2000 we used to give really doesn’t go very far anymore,” says trust chair Gwenny Davis.
Six of the recipients are heading to Canterbury University in 2025, including Golden Bay High School’s Lewis Langford, who was awarded $4000 to study a Bachelor of Commerce Business and Marketing and Murchison’s Isabelle Helem, who was granted $500 to study education.
Also heading to Canterbury University are Ronan Moorhead from Garin College, who received $4000 to study engineering, Nayland College’s Saskia Nyhoff, who was granted $500 to study mechanical engineering, Nelson College’s Magnus Fraser who received $4000 to undertake a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Zoe Wing from Waimea College who gained $1000 towards her Bachelor of Engineering.
From Collingwood Area School, Nora Becker was awarded $1000 to study a Bachelor of Culinary Arts at Otago Polytechnic, while Motueka High School student Nika Rayward received $1000 towards an Outdoor Education New Zealand Diploma in Outdoor and Adventure Education at Taipoutini Polytechnic.
Finally, Mackenzie Doughty from Nelson College for Girls will be heading to Lincoln University after receiving $500 towards her Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University.
“We really enjoy interviewing for this scholarship each year, these young people are the leaders of the future,” Gwenny says.
Students are nominated by their schools for a wide variety of reasons, and she says it’s “never just about the brightest and best pursuing their personal careers”.
“Sir Wallace Rowling was a teacher, a leader and someone who cared about social justice. We are looking for students who will lead and inspire like that and we also look at what these students have done in their community and their school.”
