Hats off to Central Otago students honoured at prizegiving ceremony

Seventy-five current students and recent graduates were recognised for their achievements at Otago Polytechnic’s annual prizegiving ceremony on Friday 20 November at the Cromwell Presbyterian Church.

Of those, 21 students were singled out for special awards and scholarships.

Graduating student Sijo Paul from India won the National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4) Excellence Award for best overall theory and Sreekumar Chellickal Narayanan won the top practical achievement.

Sports Turf Management graduate Tenille Guttery, from Otautau, was recognised for her outstanding ability and achievements, winning the PGG Wrightsons award and a trip to the Gold Coast for the Australian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition next year (valued at $2,000).

Gary Smith, the lecturer of New Zealand’s only full-time turf management course, says Tenille is self motivated and he expects her to go far in the industry.

“Tenille is an absolute natural. For the past two years she’s shown excellent practical and leadership skills, and with her initiative and drive I’d expect to see her in a management role in the industry in the not too distant future,” he says. “She’s already secured a full-time greenkeeping position at Arrowtown Golf Club so she’s on her way.”

Otago Polytechnic Regional Manager Jean Tillyshort believes the awards ceremony is a great way of recognising the students’ efforts and finishing their year on a high.

“These outstanding achievements are the result of hard work and commitment by both the students and the lecturers who have guided them. We have a wealth of skilled young people in Central Otago and it bodes well for New Zealand’s future with such a lot of talent going out into the work force.”

ENDS



CLASS PRIZES
NATURAL RESOURCES SECTION
National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4)
· Top Theory Student - Sijo Paul
· Top practical student (Otago Farmers Market Trust prize) - Sreekumar Chellickal Narayanan
· Best specimen collection - Emma Urquhart

National Certificate in Sports Turf Management (Level 4)
· Excellence Year 1 and Drummond & Etheridge/John Deere Scholarship - Ben Payne
· Best Practical Student Year 1 - Logan Galloway
· New Zealand Cricket Awards – Phil McGrory and Yuki Waga
· PGG/Wrightsons Scholarship (to attend New Zealand or Australian Turf Conference) - Tenille Guttery

HOSPITALITY SECTION
National Certificate in Hospitality (Basic Cookery) (Level 3)
· Overall Top Student - Kim Laybourn
· Overall Second Equal - Paul Raymont and Janet Slocombe

Certificate in Cookery (Level 3)
· Overall Top Student - Luke Knight
· Diligence Award - Ken Ji

Certificate in Professional Cookery (Level 4) 1st intake
· Overall Top student - Aidan Dickson
· Overall Second Student - Taro Isayama

Certificate in Professional Cookery (Level 4) 2nd intake
· Overall Top student - Marivic Bernardo
· Overall Second Student - Andrew Soriano


SPECIAL AWARDS
Otago Farmers Market Trust Scholarship
· Top Practical Horticulture Student - Sreekumar Chellickal Narayan, $1000

Rotary Club Scholarships
· Luke Knight
· Emily Johns
· Dallas Kennedy
· Gandhi Krishnamurthy

Foliafeed/Healthy Soils Scholarship
· Brendan Seal

New Zealand Cricket Awards
· Yuki Waga - $500
· Phil McGrory - $500

Drummond & Etheridge / John Deere Scholarship
· Top Year 1 Sports Turf Management student – Ben Payne, $1,000

PGG Wrightsons Turf Scholarship
· Sports Turf graduate Tenille Guttery - trip to Australia for the 26th Australian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition on Gold Coast, 21-25 June 2010, valued at $2,000


QUALIFICATIONS ACHIEVED
COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTRE – Business and Computing certificates
National Certificate in Business Administration and Computing (Level 2)
Kathryn Sutherland
National Certificate in Business Administration and Computing (Level 2) and
National Certificate in Computing (Level 2)
Jessica Roberts
Jacqui Wessels

NATURAL RESOURCES
Horticulture Industry Training Organisation and Otago Polytechnic apprentices
National Certificate in Horticulture (Introductory) (Level 2)
Dallas Kennedy
Richard Olman
National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 3)
Margaret ter Bruggen
National Certificate in Horticulture (Viticulture) (Level 4)
Rosemary Briggs
Joanne Lim
National Certificate in Horticulture (Fruit Production) (Level 4)
Des Harborne
National Certificate in Horticulture (Advanced) (Fruit Production) (Level 4)
Ken Butcher

National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4)
Sreekumar Chellickal Narayanan
Sajimon Chennamkulathu Augusthy
Vikash Damodaran
Maju Emmanuel
Brett Fahy
Sebastian Thomas
Barbara Klee
Joy Koiykkattil George
Gandhi Krishnamurthy
Sijo Paul
Prasanth Pulingampilly Subramanian
Sreenath Sreenivasan
Kathryn Sutherland
Sunny Thomas
Emma Urquhart
Johnson Vattakatcherry Chandy

National Certificate in Sports Turf Management (Level 4)
Tennille Guttery

Certificate in Stonemasonry (Level 4)
Michael Dacombe
Duncan Direen
Adam Kirkman
Jamie McNoe
Shaun Russell
Matthew Smith
Reuben Tait
Glenn Watson
Toby Wheatley

HOSPITALITY
Certificate in Cookery (Level 3)
Anita Cook
Aleisha Davidson
Lisa Direen
Ken Ji
Emily Johns
Luke Knight
Joanne Vendt
Kayleigh Waite

National Certificate in Hospitality (Basic Cookery) (Level 3)
Alex Duarte
Kim Laybourn
Paul Raymont
Sandra Shore
Janet Slocombe
Fiona Sudden

Certificate in Professional Cookery (Level 4) – 1st intake
Aidan Dickson
Linda Donald
Taro Isayama
Sandra Leggett
Nicholas Mayhew
Dexter Palmer
Andrew Tipping

Certificate in Professional Cookery (Level 4) – 2nd intake
Johanna Ayo
Marivic Bernardo
Rudy Clemente
Aina Domingo
Precious Go
Jessabel Granada
Jo-Ed Jaotegan
Shiela Nogoy
Pamela San Juan
Andrew Soriano