Pupils awarded

Two St John’s College students have been the first North Island team to take out two of six national excellence awards for the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES).

On Waitangi Day Benjamin Gardiner and Brad Selwood attended a reception at Government House to recognise the national achievement of St John’s College in social enterprise — as the college was a national finalist in the NZI National Business Sustainability Awards in 2018.

They were awarded for their device, otherwise known as GEORGE, a low cost rain and flood warning device. GEORGE could be housed in ordinary PCV piping which could be purchased in any hardware store. A computer programme created by the students then sends information via text message to a mobile phone with a warning.

Other directors of GEORGE included Rhyva van Onselen, Shea McDonald, Jack Gardner, Kadyn Newport and Jake McIvor.

Gardiner said the visit to Wellington was hectic, but well worth it.

“It was amazing, there were so many people dressed up and some really influential people there. The Governor-General spoke about the environment which we thought tied in really well with GEORGE.

“We got a chance to speak to her and she was just really impressed with what were doing as were a lot of other people.”

Two Top Business awards were given to the GEORGE founders which included Unitec Award for Enterprising Technology and the Gallagher Award for Smart Technology.

“That makes us feel pretty special. We’ve just come so far and we’ve put in so much hard work, so it’s great we’re getting recognition and people are showing such strong interest.”