Eight outstanding young achievers contest Council's Young Ambassador Award
November 14, 2016
A strong field of eight young people from across the district will vie for this year's Colac Otway Shire Young Ambassador Award.
The winner of the 2016 Young Ambassador Award will be officially announced on Friday 18 November ahead of a formal presentation at the winner's school.
This year's nominees are Campbell McRae, Summah Briggs, Nick Lenehan-Anderson, Claudia McLaren, Sarah Hallifax, Tim Gibson, Adam Vesey and Michael Bell.
Mayor Chris Potter said the Young Ambassador Award was Council's way of recognising commitment or excellence in one or more fields of endeavour amongst our youth.
"The dedication of the nominees in their chosen fields of interest and the many achievements they've made is impressive to say the least," Cr Potter said.
"The future of our region is with extraordinary, community minded young citizens such as this group.
"Council is pleased to encourage young people in our local area through the Young Ambassador Award by acknowledging their academic, artistic, sporting and career endeavours as well as the important volunteer work they perform for our community."
This year nominees came from Colac Secondary College, Trinity College and Apollo Bay P-12 College.
Cr Potter said that the nominees, their families and their schools should be very proud of their accomplishments.
"Colac Otway Shire is fortunate to have such dedicated and well developed young citizens to represent and promote our shire," he said.
"Each candidate has their own areas of interest, but they each represent excellence and demonstrate key qualities invaluable to their wider community, and this is a real credit to them and to their families."
The Young Ambassador Award is open to students in years 11 and 12 who live and attend an educational institution within the Colac Otway Shire.
Colac Area Health Youth Development Officer Emma Warton, along with Council officers Karen Borch and Melanesia Carson comprised this year's judging panel.
Campbell McRae
Campbell McRae's sporting achievements across his secondary education have culminated in his election to House Captain in 2016.
His participation in a variety of sporting activities including swimming, basketball, football, cricket, athletics and cross country has resulted in him continuously representing his school throughout his six years at Colac Secondary College. This commitment earned him the School Sports Award for four consecutive years.
Campbell is vice-captain of Colac's A Grade cricket team, and Colac's Under 18s football team, and recognises his captaincies as an opportunity to help lead and develop other young people.
He particularly enjoys football and cricket and has participated widely at a regional level in both fields.
Amongst other achievements Campbell has been involved in Geelong Falcons' U/18 TAC pre-season training squad; represented Hampden in the V/Line Cup; and played for the Colac and District Football League and the Hampden Football Netball League in interleague carnivals. He has been an A Grade team member of the Colac Cricket Club since 2014 and represented Colac at the country week cricket carnivals on four occasions.
His achievements aren't limited to sport; Campbell is also a willing contributor to programs such Colac's Cubby House pre-school buddy program and his school's tutoring program assisting Year 7 students.
Campbell successfully undertook two year 12 subjects while completing year 11 and that year received the Colac Secondary College Endeavour Award.
Campbell plans to study sports science at university and would like to work in the body science field.
Summah Briggs
Summah Briggs acknowledges she's naturally shy and nervous in front of a crowd but can still find a way to get her message out there.
Using her English skills, her love of animation and gaming, and her Year 12 oral assessment she created a persuasive presentation that not only earned her an exceptionally high score, but drew attention to the representation of gender in video games, and provided her assessors with a lesson in video gaming and gender along the way.
Summah is in Year 12 at Apollo Bay P-12 College and loves art, animation and gaming. She wants to find a career that will incorporate her artistic passions. She's hoping for top marks in her art and design subjects to help her achieve her career goal. She's also added another challenge to her final year of study by taking on a geography subject through distance education, something she's never done before.
Having moved to Apollo Bay last year from Werribee, Summah is working on building her community connections. Whenever she's out on walks she likes to talk to the locals, as well collect rubbish to keep her coastal town tidy.
Nick Lenehan-Anderson
Nick Lenehan-Anderson is considered a role model at Colac Secondary College where he's been recognised for his academic excellence and leadership.
He's received the college's academic achievement awards in 2011 through to 2015, and was a year level leader in the corresponding years. This year, he was part of the college's Year 7 mentoring program.
Nick wants to study commerce/law at university after year completing Year 12 and in preparation for this he's been involved in Melbourne University's Kwong Lee Dow Scholars program the past two years and LaTrobe University's Aspire Program this year.
He has a broad range of interests outside school, which include playing basketball. Nick was part of the Colac Kookas' junior representative team from 2011to 2015, and the Colac Kookas' senior representative side the past two years. He's involved in umpiring football locally as well as the TAC Cup and Worksafe country championships.
In addition to school and sport, Nick enjoys volunteering. He served as the secretary of the Colac Otway Shire Youth Council in 2014-2015, and has also given his time as a junior basketball coach and a leader at the Lord Somers Camp.
Nick works casually at Target Colac and umpires with the Colac and District Football Umpires Association.
Claudia McLaren
Colac Secondary College school captain Claudia McLaren prides herself on her ability to work well with others.
Throughout her schooling Claudia has been dedicated to developing her leadership and interpersonal skills, something she reflected on with pride as part of her application to the Colac Otway Shire Council's Young Ambassador Award.
The Year 12 student says growing up on a dairy farm, going to a small primary school at Beeac, and being part of small community has helped her understand the importance of getting along with a wide variety of people.
And she attributes her interpersonal skills to helping her adjust to secondary school, being school captain and the demands of life balancing three part-time jobs.
Her list of achievements include competing in the Lions Youth of the Year in 2015, being named Alvie Football Netball Club's clubperson of the year in 2013, being Colac Secondary College's school captain and volunteering to be part of the Lady Somers Camp this year.
She's a keen netballer with the Alvie Swans and plays tennis with the Beeac Tennis Club. She achieved her netball umpiring certification in 2012 and her C grade badge in 2014 and regularly umpires senior, junior and Under 9 competitions, as well as indoor rebound netball competitions.
Claudia has volunteered with community groups including Do Care; mentors junior netball umpires; participates in the College's Year 7 mentoring program; and is a member of the school's student leadership/representative council.
She plans to study teaching or sports management at university after taking a gap year in 2017.
Sarah Hallifax
Sarah Hallifax is an influential ambassador within her school community and she's committed to helping others.
Sarah is studying Year 12 at Colac's Trinity College. She is a member of the school's social justice group and student representative Council.
Sarah's passion for social justice spans several years and this year she took on the role of president of the Young Vinnies, a group that supports disadvantaged young people. She was the group's vice president last year.
Sarah does a lot of work behind the scenes to help organise events and fundraising drives and writes speeches to raise awareness of social justice issues.
In 2015 she travelled to East Timor as part of an immersion trip with a group of students passionate about helping others. Sarah has also been involved in the Seeds of Justice conference to help expand her knowledge on social issues and investigate ideas to help.
After she finishes Year 12, Sarah plans to study international relations or community development at either Melbourne University or Australian National University.
Tim Gibson
Tim Gibson enjoys taking on leadership roles and is the current school captain at Colac Secondary College and a member of the school's student leadership council.
And he's already looking forward to his next challenge - getting ready to take on a position with the Royal Australian Navy next year. In the Navy he plans to qualify for a career as an electronics technician and envisages more than six years in service.
He's an active member of the Irrewarra-Beeac Football Club, and enjoys playing basketball with his friends. His other hobbies include fishing, surfing and swimming.
In addition to completing Year 12, he works part time at Blane's Newsagency and says it gives him a chance to meet new people and keep up to date with the news throughout the area.
Tim's also involved with surf lifesaving and community service, volunteering with St Laurence to support people with disabilities. Tim also mentors younger students at his school, tutoring students in Years 7 and 8 in science and physical education.
Tim applied for Colac Otway Shire Council's Young Ambassador to develop his public speaking and leadership skills and broaden his community connections.
Adam Vesey
Adam Vesey has crammed an impressive list of achievements into his life so far.
Adam is completing Year 12 at Colac Secondary College, and given the prominent role sport has played throughout his life, he plans to pursue a career in a sports-related or sports science field at university.
He's been a member of the Colac Swimming Club for more than 10 years, and has represented Colac at state and national level swimming carnivals.
He's not only represented Colac in the pool but also in several Victorian mountain bike competitions, and received recognition for sporting involvement winning the school-based Pierre de Coubertin award this year. In 2013 he won the Colac Sportsmen's Association's Young Sports Star of the Year.
Continuing with the sporting theme, Adam is an active member of the Colac Football Netball Club. He has been a player for the past two years, and also takes on boundary umpiring and volunteers in the canteen. Prior to that, he played football for the Western Eagles, where he was captain in 2013-14.
Adam is putting his swimming skills to use working as a lifeguard at Bluewater, and has also worked part time at Subway since 2013.
Since 2014, he has been a volunteer mentor at the Surf Lifesaving Bronze Medallion Camp at Wye River.
Michael Bell
Music is a passion for Year 11 Trinity College student Michael Bell.
He began playing piano when he was four years old and 13 years on he's still learning, and looks forward to a future that incorporates his love of music. These days he likes to produce and compose music using both computer software and sheet music, and loves performing for others including busking at the Birregurra market.
He is completing VCE music and this year won the both the Grade 7 and Open Category at the Colac Eisteddfod as well as taking out the event's John Radcliffe Memorial Award.
He's currently taking part in the Melbourne University's Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program. Michael recognises how fortunate he is to be invited to be part of the program and one day hopes to study a Bachelor of Arts at the university including politics, media and music subjects.
Other activities that keep Michael busy include public speaking. This year he won the Lions Youth of the Year public speaking award, and won best public speaker as part of his involvement in Trinity's debating team.
In his spare time, Michael is involved in Trinity's volunteer program and goes to the gym, plays racquetball and enjoys long distance running.
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