Tutoring grant won

Waiopehu Year 13 student Emily Schleuss (pictured) is one of only five New Zealand high school students to win a Scholarship Tutoring Grant from Crimson Education.

Emily plans to study for a bachelor’s degree in commerce at Canterbury University next year and is grateful for the help she will now get to pass her scholarship exams.

She plans to sit three scholarship exams and the grant means she will get two hours with a strategist and up to 20 hours with a lecturer on a topic of her choice.

“The grant will also pay for my scholarship exams,” she said.

It also has an ongoing mentoring component.

Emily is keen for the community to hear the voice of youth and as such she is the school’s student rep on the board of trustees. She’s also been part of Youth Voice, where she has been involved as a counsellor as well as an adviser. Youth Voice organises activities for youth and enters submissions on the council’s longterm plan.

She’s also been active on the sports fields and on the water as a netballer and a rower.

The scholarship grant is a welcome surprise.

“The school librarian emailed the link to a few of us. I didn’t think I had a chance but entered anyway,” she said.

The fact that she was shortlisted came as a bit of a shock. A 20-minute Skype interview followed. “They asked so many question about school, life outside schools and plans for the future.”