Libby Burne and Nkosana Ncomanzi
Students Excelling
Students Excelling
Future Leaders Academy
LIbby Burne and Nkosana Ncomanzi both made a presentation at Waipawa District Lions Club sharing their experiences and thanked Lions for their support of a donation towards the cost of their trips.
Libby Burne
In March 2023, while scrolling through Instagram a poster on the Future Leaders Academy took my interest.
By October, I found myself joining 50 other Rāngatahi from Australia, Samoa and New Zealand on an experience of a lifetime. Being of Samoan heritage, the Pacifica Leaders program based in Samoa made the trip even more special. The eight days consisted of leadership challenges and activities that strengthened While in Samoa, I learnt a lot. You don’t realize how lucky you are until you experience these types of things. I feel as though that this experience has led me to become more confident, compassionate, and understanding not only in myself and my values, but also others around me. It has meant that I have been able to pass on my kete of knowledge built up from those 8 days onto fellow classmates and teachers. For that, I am very grateful. I highly recommend this program as it helped me develop as a leader in many ways. If you are in Year 12 or 13 and aspiring to be a leader, check out the Future Leaders Academy website. They offer so many incredible opportunities and programs with the aim to help make leaders the best they can be.
Nkosana Ncomanzi
Olsem wanem everyone. Adventuring on a journey to Vanuatu with the Future Leaders Academy was more than just an exciting opportunity, it was a deep dive into my self-discovery, leadership, friendships and cultural enrichment. Through the intense and relaxing activities, I was able to see a part of me that I didn't know. The one-week trip was truly inspiring and humbling, and I'll never forget it. There were so many skills that I learnt from the trip, but if I had to pick a few it would be how to lead such diverse teams with confidence and bring everyone's strengths together to achieve anything. Besides the activities and the trip, there are truly friendships I made there that I will cherish forever, and I may even go back to Vanuatu very soon. I thank everyone for the kind funding they were able to give me. I feel very honoured and grateful.
Epic Swim 2024
Paige and Bree Franklin competed in their first open water swim of the season at Epic Swim which was held in Lake Taupo on January 13th. Both choose the challenge of swimming the 1km event and 500m back to back as opposed to a longer event. In the 1km event, in a field of 121 swimmers, Paige came 4th overall and 1st female, Bree placed 14th in her age group. Then 10 minutes later, both got back into the water to swim the 500m event. Paige managed to complete the double, coming 1st female again but this time 2nd overall. Bree placed 1st in her age group, 3rd female and 5th overall. Well done girls on these great results.
Special mention also to Mrs Judy Shepherd for placing 3rd in her age group for the 5km event. Well done.
Bree Franklin
Paige Franklin
Article added: Thursday 08 February 2024
