NPGHS students receive top subject scholarship awards
A drama performance highlighting the oppression of women led to a top scholarship for one New Plymouth student.
New Plymouth Girls’ High School students Tessa Keenan and Breanna Camden both received top subject scholarship awards for 2018, in drama and biology respectively – the only New Plymouth students to be top of subject in the country.
For drama, Keenan had to complete a three-part performance, a script, a devising piece and an ad-lib part where ‘‘they throw you five things you have to do in two minutes’’.
For the devising piece, which they had to come up with themselves, she chose a ‘‘fear of cruelty’’ style performance on the plight of women.
‘‘Fear of cruelty (style) is pretty surreal and awful and designed to shock the audience,’’ she said. ‘‘The actors have to push themselves physically to do it. It was about the idea that girls ask for it – like if they’re wearing something revealing that means she wants something to happen.’’
She said she wasn’t saying men weren’t also oppressed, but misguided views of women was the angle she came from. ‘‘I did talk a little bit about how it’s easy to convince yourself that they’re going to change.’’
For the qualification, it was less about acting and more about applying the techniques, she said. She is now heading to Victoria University to study law.
Camden achieved top subject as a Year 12 student last year and is now focusing on her final year of high school before heading to either Canterbury or Otago University, where she hoped to study genetics and physics.
She had been scrolling through her results and did a double take when she saw the scholarship, she said.
‘‘It was also about the experiences – you learn lots of knowledge that could be applied to the degree you do.’’
Principal Victoria Kerr said the school had a total of 35 scholarships with five outstanding, across 15 subjects and 23 students, including Anahita Piri who received an Outstanding Scholarship Award for winning four scholarships, including two outstanding in accounting and economics.
‘‘It’s important to acknowledge those other students because it’s often only a few marks in between.’’