College Herald awards recognise high achievers

Mon, 18 Oct 2004

Media Release

College Herald awards recognise high achievers at the Auckland Art Gallery.

The New Zealand Herald's College Herald programme recently held its annual awards ceremony at the Auckland Art Gallery. Twenty winning students and their teachers were invited from around the North Island to take part in the ceremony and prize giving.

"The College Herald showcases outstanding students' work, every Tuesday in a special four-page colour section of the New Zealand Herald. The programme runs for a 10-week period during terms two and three of the school year. Each week 20 pieces of work are published, 5 on a weekly theme and 15 on a general theme. Of the work featured two weekly winners are selected as the editor's choice.

Now seen as a world class programme, the College Herald received international recognition at this year's INMA Awards winning the NIE section (Newspapers in Education.) The accolade was secured after the programme received significant contributions to literacy from both the New Zealand Herald and College Herald sponsors.

Newspaper Sales and Marketing Director Rob Billington is thrilled with the progress of the College Herald.

" The New Zealand Herald is proud to make an ongoing commitment to invest in such a worthwhile programme. The international recognition of the INMA award is a credit to a locally produced programme," he says.

Throughout the programme the College Herald is exposed to 575,000* readers each Tuesday (*Nielsen Media Research, national Readership Survey, Jan - Dec 2003, All People 10+)

All 200 students who had their work published in the 2004 College Herald received a $250 BNZ bank account. The 20 weekly editor's choice winners will also received $500 for their school and either a Canon Film Makers Pack or an HP Compaq notebook at yesterday's awards ceremony.

Winners are selected each week by David Lawrence, editor of the College Herald section.

"This year the College Herald received 2,400 submissions, double last year's number. So the selection process was more rigorous and the standard of work published was generally higher," he says.

"The talents of the students - photographers, artists and writers - are deeply impressive, and I'm sure some of them will go on to successful careers in journalism."

This year 53% of Secondary schools across the North Island submitted work to the programme on a range of topics, such as - Technology, Religion, Newspapers and Society. The highest numbers of entries were made from Waiuku College, which submitted 162 entries, closely followed by Palmerston North Girls High School with 155 entries, then Epsom Girls Grammar School which submitted 127 entries. The secondary school with the highest number of winners was Macleans College.

Gavin Ellis, Editor in Chief at the New Zealand Herald, is delighted with the contribution made by College students this year.

"The College Herald is now an eagerly sought-after section of the Herald on Tuesdays," he says.

"Not only is it read by students but our general readership finds it a fresh and informative perspective on life and society. The College Herald is a thoroughly worthwhile part of the newspaper."

Particular recognition goes to those students who attended the College Herald awards ceremony for a second year. Lara Markstein, Dala Huang and Katherine Jennings from Macleans College, and Jamie Armstrong from Takapuna Grammar School.

This year the programme had eight sponsors, HP New Zealand, Norske Skog, Microsoft, Bank of New Zealand, Whitcoulls, Canon, Unitec and AA Driver Training. Each sponsor had its own devoted week and weekly theme. Such as Bank of New Zealand's "The Future of Money."

Some feedback from readers:

Quotes from Letters to the editor, The New Zealand Herald 2004:

"I am an avid reader of the College Herald each week. The topics written about by the young people are always interesting and express how the teenagers think. I congratulate them all." Doreen Jardine, Tauranga

"An unqualified bravo to Tuesday's College Herald................... your pages have hit the all-time jackpot. Together, this team of contributors has spanned the entire spectrum of journalism - reports, reviews, feature writing, column comment, even cartooning - with finesse and expertise in every area.............." Robin Aitken, Waiuku

"I read your College Herald with consistent admiration. As a secondary school inspector for more than 20 years, I have had ample opportunity to observe and evaluate the teaching and writing of English in all types of schools. I am greatly impressed by the high quality, relevance and variety of the articles produced. Congratulations are due to the students, their teachers and to the Herald for promoting the production." Maurice Hutchinson, Torbay

"Whenever I feel sad at the way our society is heading I am always brightened by reading the College Herald. It is evident there are still young people out there that care about the world and have enough education to write an articulate article on subjects they are concerned about. May you long continue printing their excellent contributions." N.J Milligan, Remuera

For more information on the College Herald, visit www.nzherald.co.nz/college

ENDS

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