Top Territory students honoured by NT Board of Studies (NTBOS)
Monday 13 February 2006
The Northern Territory’s top secondary students for 2005 were honoured at this year’s annual Northern Territory Board of Studies (NTBOS) gala award ceremonies in Alice Springs and Darwin. The respective ceremonies were held at the Alice Springs Resort on 3 February, and in Darwin at Parliament House on 10 February.
The NTBOS awards are special events on the education calendar when Territory students are publicly recognised for academic excellence and hard work throughout their final school years. The events formally recognise the top 20 students in the Northern Territory Certificate of Education (NTCE), and high achievers are presented with prestigious awards to acknowledge their efforts and success.
These ceremonies are a time to pay tribute to the tremendous work of students, but also recognise the people who helped them excel – parents, friends, and members of their communities – as well as the principals, teachers and curriculum staff who have worked to ensure the NT gets the best results.
This was an exceptional year for the Territory, with a record 927 Year 12 students receiving their NTCE, including a record 25 graduates from remote community educational centres.
Employment, Education and Training Minister Syd Stirling congratulated award winners at the Darwin ceremony, and presented the top 20 student awards and the Chief Minister’s Awards. The Administrator Ted Egan presented the Administrator’s Medals and addressed the high-achieving students.
In Alice Springs, Member for MacDonnell Alison Anderson addressed the NTBOS award-winners and their guests, and presented awards to the top Central Australian students.
This year saw the presentation of three new awards including two International Association of Hydrogeologists (NT) awards in geography and geology, with the awards presented by the Secretary of the NT Branch, Peter Jolley. The recipients were Matthew Fong for outstanding results in geology, and Alexandra Willick for high achievements in geography.
Mr Jolley said this was an opportunity to support and encourage students in each respective field to promote the study and knowledge of the world’s groundwater resources.
“By providing these awards, we hope students may consider work in the groundwater field as a future employment option,” said Mr Jolley, noting that all community water supplies are either fully or partially extracted from groundwater in the NT.
Another inaugural award for 2005 is the Telstra Robyn and George Hewitson Remote Indigenous Student Award – honouring the outstanding achievement by a remote Indigenous student. This award was presented by Telstra Country Wide, Indigenous Directorate, General Manager, Lawrie Mortimer to Quitaysha Frith from Kalkaringi.
The Territory’s top student Yvonne Chau, who scored an almost perfect 99 out of 100 in the NTCE, walked away with the Chief Minister’s Award for Most Outstanding Stage 2 NTCE student, the Dennis Thomson Memorial Award for Science and also the Australian Student Prize.
Other Australian student prize winners were Corinne Prossor, James Farnell and Jonathan Bortoli.
The Chief Minister’s award for most outstanding Indigenous student was presented to Cherisse Buzzacot of Alice Springs, and Amelia Palmer was awarded the top prize for an open education student.
This year’s Australian Computer Society award was presented to Nhulunbuy High School student, Amber Wilson, who excelled in her work in desktop publishing, electronic publishing and web design.
Alice Springs student Sylvie Giles made history with a perfect 20 out of 20 for Australian languages, specialising in Arrernte. It was the first time the subject had been offered as an NTCE subject.
Other high achiever awards were presented for each subject, with sponsors including the
Rotary Club of Darwin, Department of Corporate and Information Services, Mathematics Teachers Association of the NT, the Dennis Thomson Estate and Australian Veterinary Association (NT Branch), Australia Day Council, Australian Computer Society and Australian International Baccalaureate Office.
Kormilda College celebrated the high achievement of Teagan Annis-Brown who gained the award for Most Outstanding International Baccalaureate Student for 2005, whilst other students from the school received certificates of merit.
Primary school Administrator’s awards
Territory primary school students were awarded Administrator medals at the NTBOS events. These awards recognised students who made a significant contribution to their school and the broader community through outstanding citizenship, whilst also achieving academic excellence.
In Darwin, the Administrator Ted Egan presented medals to Kashima Small (Maningrida CEC), Margaret O’Donnell (Nightcliff Primary School), Kae-Duen Su (Wulagi Primary School), Danicia Olsson (Durack Primary School), Jessica Kiekebosch-Fitt (Katherine School of the Air), and Katia Pereyra Burnes (St John’s College).
In Central Australia, Deputy to the Administrator Pat Miller presented the Administrator’s Medal to Connor Skoss from Larapinta Primary School.