Westlake Girls' High
takes away top prize
26 November 2011. Westlake Girls’ High School students have claimed the top prize at the regional awards of the 2011 Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme, beating 60 other student companies to win Company of the Year for the North Auckland region.
The Young Enterprise (YES) Scheme is a school-based business programme that runs internationally and in New Zealand secondary schools at years 12/13. It fosters tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, giving them the opportunity to form a company, create a business plan, and produce goods or services to sell. Smales Farm has sponsored the scheme for the last seven years.
More than 150 people attended the regional awards at the Bruce Mason Centre. The Westlake Girls' High team, known as KEEP (Kids’ Emergency Evacuation Plan) won the coveted Company of the Year prize with a book that teaches primary school students tips to survive earthquakes and tsunamis. All the book’s proceeds are donated to the Christchurch earthquake relief fund.
It was a big night for KEEP, which also won the Bartercard Excellence in Communication Award. The student company’s managing director, Shirley Ren, won the Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Smales Farm Director Bill Smale presented the Westlake Girls' High KEEP team with a surprise cash prize of $1200. A Westlake Boys' High School team called Spectra Glow Apparel was runner up for Company of the year, and received $800.
KEEP will now compete for the New Zealand title at the national Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme Awards in Wellington on December 1st, 2011. A surprise announcement at the regional awards night sees I3Dee from Westlake Boys’ High School - with its innovative clip-on 3D glasses for spectacle wearers - joining KEEP in attending the national awards.
Award winners
Company of the Year
KEEP, Westlake Girls’ High School
Company of the Year Runner Up
Spectra Glow Apparel, Westlake Boys’ High School
Excellence in Production Award
CreatNZ, Young's College
Young Female Entrepreneur
Shirley Ren, Westlake Girls’ High School
Young Male Entrepreneur
Ben Reynolds, Westlake Boys' High School
Communication Award
CreatioNZ, Young’s College
rebound, Westlake Girls' High School
KEEP (Kids' Emergency Evacuation Plan), Westlake Girls’ High School
I3Dee, Westlake Boys’ High School
Spectra, Westlake Boys’ High School
Aim+, Takapuna Grammar School
Personal Development Award
Channel Flyger, Orewa College
Problem Solving Award
Spectra Glow Apparel, Westlake Boys’ High School
Excellence in Financial Management
Business As Usual, Kingsway College
Excellence in Presentation Award
KEEP, Westlake Girls' High School