Niue High School Prize Giving Ceremony.
Year 13 students with their final performance
Teachers,
students, parents and caregivers assembled yesterday at the multi-purpose Hall
at Paliati to celebrate Niue High School end of year annual Prize Giving
Ceremony.
Masters of Ceremony were shared by the Head Boy Huggard Tongatule and Head Girl Sapaia Salatielu, a commitment by the School, according to the Prize Giving Co-ordinator Mrs Carol Edwards, ‘to allow more participation and responsibility sharing by the senior students.’
Sapaia Salatielu 2005 Dux of the School
As always the Principal’s Report was the most important of the speech makers. Mrs Jieni Mitimeti was appointed in July this year after Mr Takili Talagi left but she appeared to have coped well to have achieved a seamless transition to continue without any disruption to the school’s operations. There are a few teachers leaving having completed their terms of contract and there is concern over the school roll continuing to fall.
For
the Minister of Education, Hon Va’ainga Tukuitonga, it was her first major
official engagement at the school since her appointment as the Minister. “I have
listened and noted the reports from the Director and the Principal and I am
pleased to know that everything is going as well as expected. But I would like
to thank you, your parents, your teachers - especially those who are leaving,
your donors, sponsors and supporters for all the contributions that they have
made in the course of your education. Remember that education does not happen
only in the classroom, it will last for as long as you live.”
Guest speaker Dr Marina Pulu gave a delightful address alluding to her ‘pains’ in having to ‘endure’ physical education classes [something that most students could relate to and agree with sympathy] and the ‘happy’ times that she spent exercising her other talents with books and laboratory experiments.
The Award and Prize giving Ceremony lasted two hours with Prize recipients strutting the centre stage in their moments of glory and making their families, friends and relations proud.
It
was the girls who most frequently collected awards from their appointed
presenters, making obvious their ascendance in the classroom battle of the
brains. In the end, the moment that everyone had been waiting for, the top
scholar of the year was announced – Sapaia Salatielu was the 2005 Dux.
Congratulations to all the students, the fortunate and the not so fortunate. To
quote the Minister’s words, “but for most of you your turn will come. Winning is
not a destination but a life long journey. Just make sure that you are there
when it happens.”
Sapaia Salatielu Wins 2005 Niue High School Dux
Top academic honours for the prestigious Niue High School Dux Award during the end of year annual Prize Giving yesterday went to Sapaia Salatielu, from Liku Village.
Golden Moments
“She is our top academic student with an attitude to match,” said Mrs Jieni Mitimeti, Principal of Niue High School, “and our best nominee candidate for the Otago University’s Sponsorship Award [worth $3000.00] for 2005.”
A Year 7 student and Head Girl this year, Sapaia Salatielu, consolidated her achievement with first placings in Statistics and Modelling [formerly Maths and Stats], Biology, Chemistry, Physics and English.
In addition Salatielu gained the 2005 Best All Rounder Award, the Year 13 Top Science Award [sponsored by Swanson and sons Ltd] 2nd in the English Speech Competition, 3rd in the Niuean Speech Competition.
With a battery of impressive achievements that reads like Christmas shopping list Salatielu is heading for the Otago University School of Medicine in 2006 to become a doctor. “I will expect you back here in Niue when you have completed all your studies in 15 years time,” Premier Vivian begged Salatielu when he congratulated her in front of the invited guests, parents and students who braved the summer heat in the school hall to pay homage and acknowledge the 2005 Dux recipient.
Girl students dominate Niue High School Prize Giving Ceremony
Charlotte Pihigia with her family Lydia Sioneloto and her family
“This is a growing trend and one that is increasing perceptibly in the past few years,” Minister of Education Hon Va’ainga Tukuitonga after the Prize Giving Ceremony at the High School yesterday. “The girls walked away with most of the major awards, including the Dux. I should be concerned but when you consider everything else that is happening in Niue at the moment the pattern is the same generally. The women are on the ascendance.”
The Minister is correct in her observations. For example, Year 9 student Charlotte Pihigia needed a truck to take her winning awards home as did Lydia Sioneloto. Only Aldric Hipa managed to salvage some of the flagging male egos by matching Charlotte subject by subject in the academic stakes and effectively preventing her from making a clean sweep of the Year 9 awards.
The point
was not lost either on the Head Boy, Huggard Tongatule who commented during the
ceremony that there are no males in the upper echelons in the Department and in
the two schools in Niue. ‘Just think,” he said. “The Director and the Deputy are
both women, the Principals of Niue High School and the Niue Primary Schools are
women, and the Minister is a woman! That is amazing!”
It is a fact that the number of female teachers in both our local schools outnumbers the men by a large margin, causing concern in the probable effeminising of our young males who need appropriate role models to keep their ‘maleness’ in proper perspective.