Welcome to the Annual Community Youth Awards 2008
Update: Registrations for Community Youth Awards now closed.
The registrations for the Community Youth Awards are now closed, and the final six have been chosen. They are:
Kayla Beatie - Bayswater Secondary College
Ryan Warren - Bayswater Nth Primary School
Natasha Alexander - Holy Trinity Primary School
Nathan Lowe - The Knox School
Lucas - Boronia West Primary School
Junior Rotary - Ferntree Gully North Primary School
'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has'.
Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978).Once again, Ferntree Gully Nissan and the Knox Journal Community Newspaper are proud to be providing this opportunity for the recognition of those young people among us that will become our community lifeblood of tomorrow. For Primary School students, this is represented by those unselfish children that always want to participate, help their classmates wherever they can, always represent their school with pride, and show a genuine interest in the welfare of other human beings. For Secondary students, all of this applies, along with the actual community participation that a higher age permits.
If your child is one of these primary students, or you are one of these secondary students, and you attend one of the 44 schools in the City of Knox, (Knoxfield, Ferntree Gully, Upper Ferntree Gully, Rowville, Lysterfield, Scoresby, Wantirna, Wantirna Sth, Bayswater, Boronia and The Basin) then tell us about yourself, what you�ve done, what you do, and what you could do to make a positive difference in our community.
The 2007 Finalists were awarded their prizes at a special presentation night at Ferntree Gully Nissan on the 21st September. The registration process has now commenced for 2008! This year we are offering a further $30,000 in total prizes and trophies to the schools and their students. The prize money for a �Top 6� finalist will be awarded as follows:
"Junior Community Champion� � Primary School
- �Senior Community Champion� � Secondary School
- "Young Community Leaders� � Runners Up x 4
Trophies and certificates will also be presented to those major prize winners, and there will also be several �Honourable Mention� certificates for those students that deserve recognition, but just missed out on these prizes.
In addition to these major prizes, fortnightly �Readers Choice Awards� will be run between March and early September in the Knox Journal. In each round, four photos and profiles of students (or groups) that have registered are presented in the paper, in which school friends and families can then vote for. The entry with the most votes will receive a prize of $250 for themselves and also for their school. There are a limited number of newspaper spots available so get your applications in fast (or at least a summary). Each school is being offered one guaranteed spot, and for early entries a possible second opportunity.
To be eligible for major prizes, Secondary School students need to provide us with a short essay of no more than 500 words titled �My Community and the importance of being involved�. Along with this they must also provide references from any relevant clubs and associations that they are involved with. For Primary School students, we fully encourage parents to help their children express their understanding of the community in a short essay of up to 500 words, and tell us what sort of things can be done to make the community a better place. We would prefer the essay to be in the students own words.
Below are some of the things we are looking for but please let us know about any other ideas that you might also have. Make sure they attach references that support their application
Your involvement in school:
Are you a school captain or leader? Do you contribute more than you are expected to in your school environment? Do you participate in discussions and activities?Commitment to your education:
Do you try your best at studies? Remember, you don�t have to be a �straight A� student but you must supply references from your teachers that show you work hard.Doing your fair share at home:
Do you recognize what your parents do for you by helping them out around the house?Community group participation:
Are you involved in any sporting clubs or other organizations? Are you in a leadership role? Do you participate on a committee or plan for the future?Charity work:
Are you involved in any charities? � Local, national or global?Volunteer work:
Do you perform any volunteer or community work of any kind?Suggestions and plans for the future:
What are your ideas for making our community a better place to live? We would love to hear about them.As discussed, entries for 2008 are now being accepted, and will close on the 31st August for the judging to begin. As with this year, a top 20 is first selected and presented in the Knox Journal, followed by the final 6 a week later. The announcement of the overall winner(s) is then made at the final presentation ceremony. This will most likely be on the last day of the school term and will be held at the Ferntree Gully Nissan dealership where our last presentation was held.
This year, we have also decided to introduce a �Students Choice Award� for the most �Popular Teacher.� All students from the 44 Primary and Secondary schools will have the opportunity to submit a short essay of no more than 100 words on why their chosen teacher is their favourite�..From the nominations we receive, our judges will select four teachers and each will then have their photo and profile appear in the Knox Journal. Knox Journal readers will then vote for their choice via the internet in the same way as the other Readers Choice rounds. This award has been introduced to give students a chance to say �thank you� and to acknowledge the contribution and commitment their teachers make to them and their school.
If you have any questions you can email to: community.youth@ftgnissan.com.au Someone will reply promptly either by email or phone if you leave your number.