North Lake Senior Campus has enjoyed a wonderful partnership with the Rotary Club of Booragoon for over 20 years.
Among other things we get together annually for the presentation of Endeavour Scholarships for Year 11 students. The scholarships are designed to assist students with their studies at North Lake in Year 12.
This year’s winners were Kai Bell, Neve Hopkinson, Senait Legesse, Tanika Moller and Brody Perkins.
The students, guests, Rotary members and North Lake staff gathered at the Dome Deep Water Point on Tuesday 11 October.
After dinner and Rotary business the scholarship winners were presented with certificates and addressed the gathering.
“It was amazing,” Senait said, “the people were so kind. At first I was very nervous but then I found it easy because everybody was listening and supporting me. My sister said she didn’t now I could speak that much English because at home we speak Tigrinya. The whole night made me feel so good.” Senait believes the oral presentations she’d done in the IEC and EALD helped in this public speaking experience.
‘Amazing’ was also the word Tenika used to describe the evening. “They were such welcoming, loving people. I felt respect, support, validation and I felt valued. It’s a night I’ll never forget, I’m so grateful.”
Neve said she was nervous about speaking in front of a group. “It turned out to be a pretty fun night. I wanted to get across that people learn in different ways and North Lake has worked for me. Now I want to come to school.”
Brody said he arrived a Fremantle Fast Track as an introverted young man and even he was surprised to be addressing a group of people with some confidence. He told about his work at McDonald’s and aim to rise to manager soon. Brody recently completed his Cert II in Automotive Vocational Preparation-Light Vehicle Servicing through VET in Schools. He drew a laugh from the crowd when he told of his interest in “cars and money”.
Kai wasn’t able to attend but wrote a letter of thanks that was read out by his English teacher and North Lake’s Year 11 coordinator Armanda. Here’s part of what Kai wrote: “I never imagined that I’d be nominated for something like this. I wanted to express my gratitude for this opportunity.”
Peter Best from the Rotary Club of Booragoon summed up the event: “One of the high points of our Rotary year, awarding scholarships to students from North Lake Senior Campus and Fast Track Fremantle. These schools attract some of WA’s finest teachers and students committed to excel, even in challenging life circumstances.”
We are looking forward to welcoming representatives of the Rotary Club of Booragoon to the Year 12 Valedictory on Monday 24 October as our partnership continues and grows.
• As is customary the scholarships winners learned to play a frog.