The 2021 Youth Awards was a successful night of celebration for our local youth!
Although the COVID-19 situation meant our night ran a little differently to usual, it was a brilliant night to attend! We would like to thank everyone for being respectful of the measures put in place to keep us all safe, and for showing up with such excitement for the night - you all made it so much fun!
There was so much effort put into the night, and the list of people to thank is immense...
Firstly thankyou to our coordinators, Vicki and Sarah for pulling off the enormous amount of background work that allowed this night to go ahead! Thankyou to the staff at Te Hā o Mātauranga for your help on the night, and for looking after the catering for the evening. Thankyou to Darrell for organising the sound and lighting. Thankyou to the band from Kaikōura High School for your performance, and to Chloe Swarbrick for recording an awesome video for us to watch. A massive thankyou to our judging panel - Maia Kahu, Ruslan Ataria-Ivannikov, Vicki Gulleford, Casey Davis and Anthony Wood.
The biggest thankyou to all our sponsors, without whom this event would not have been able to run.
Te Runanga o Kaikōura
Te Whare Putea Trust
Innovative Waste Kaikōura
Kaikōura Op Shop
Whalewatch Kaikōura
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Kaikōura District Council
John and Sandra Wyatt
Kaikōura Healthcare
Proctor Olives
​New World Kaikōura
Another round of applause for Kaikōura Youth Council - the team that put this night together - Maia Kahu (Chairperson), Jade Cullen (Deputy Chair), Theo Rae (Secretary), Amber Jellyman, Tepo Manawatu, Kurapa Hawke, Autumn Cullen, Grace Jellyman, Alpha Uedaspooner and Finley Kirk. 
Lastly, thankyou to the community who came together to support your friends and family on the night, your energy made the night what it was.
Thankyou to Andrew Spencer for the amazing photos!

Congratulations to our Winners!

The judging panel selected two equal winners for each award category
Inspiring Child Award - sponsored by Proctor Olives
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This is an award that goes to someone who is under 12, someone who has worked hard for what they wish to be, someone who is kind, sincere and helpful.
Chelsea Annen
Chelsea is an awesome wee helper. She often frequents the library and is always willing to put her hand up to help behind the counter, put books away or whatever the ladies at the desk need help with. She is actively involved with swimming, netball and at school. She is an inspiring child due to her intelligence, kindness and confidence, and this will make her an awesome leader to the tamariki as she moves through kura.
Georgie Kavanagh
You will often find Georgie lending a hand at the local library, where she checks the drop off book box, helps move furniture to make space for library clubs, issues books and helps with running activities.
​Georgie loves animals and has a menagerie at home that she helps her Mum care for. Come to visit and you might see her jumping on the trampoline with the goat or dancing in the field with her calf and pig. Star on the rise, Georgie performed in a promotional video for Kaikōura filmed earlier in the year, and did an amazing job representing the community we all love.
Entrepreneurship Award
​- sponsored by Mayor's Taskforce for Jobs
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This award goes to someone who actively transforms the world and solves problems, or has excelled in running an enterprise in Kaikōura.
Hailey Timms
Hailey participated in Te Hā o Mātauranga’s Fast Fail course this year, an entrepreneurship programme that helped her in creating her candle and wax melt business. She worked very hard to stick through the hard bits, and has come out the other end with a high end product. Hailey had a vision of her product from the very beginning and to be able to make that vision become a reality was amazing. Not only that, she has managed to secure sales within five minutes of walking into a building! She is a passionate and creative young soul, with ambition to succeed in her business.
Sienna-Belle Norton
​Sienna-Belle signed up for Te Hā o Mātauranga's Fast Fail course because she wanted to make some money. She quickly came up with the idea to make rings. Sienna-Belle found small pretty bits of rock and glass on the beach and used wire to make beautiful rings in various designs. Sienna-Belle made a business plan, used a simple cashflow spread sheet and made some lovely flyers to advertise her product. She also attended a meeting with entrepreneur Anton Matthews to learn more about entrepreneurship. Sienna-Belle was focused, worked hard and made money - the vital attributes of a budding entrepreneur!
Contribution to Arts Award - sponsored by John and Sandra Wyatt
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This award goes to someone that embraces and is actively involved in any form of art. This may include photography, poetry, performing, drama, music, and visual arts.
Hanatia Timms-Waihirere
Hanatia has excellent vocals and has loved to sing her whole life. For her, singing waiata is a way to embrace her mauri and for her to feel connected to her culture. Hanatia encourages others to sing and is keen to extend her skills, participating in an online singing class. If it wasn't for lockdown which interrupted her preparation with friends she would have been singing for us tonight! In the future, Hanatia could do well teaching tamariki with her different waiata.
Mananui Te Karu
Mananui wrote a slam poetry piece and performed this at the Matariki event at Hapuku School. His poem is incredibly powerful, sharing his story over the last year. His live performance of this powerful poem was his first ever and he performed it with a poise and pace that was amazing and left many of his audience in tears. He has a natural sense of rhythm and an ability to convey emotion to his audience and take them on a journey with him. Mananui also made the most of an opportunity to film an accompanying video to his poem; one that took a significant amount of filming, taking and retaking shots. The resulting video is incredibly moving and something for him to be very proud of.
Hauora Award - sponsored by Kaikōura Health Care Ltd
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This award is for someone who demonstrates an aspect of Hauora - taha tinana (physical well-being/health), taha hinengaro (mental and emotional well-being/self-confidence), taha whanau (social well-being/self-esteem) and taha wairua (spiritual well-being/personal beliefs).
Danielle Bond
Danielle has made a huge difference this past year with her Hauora. Danielle explored the areas she needed to focus on and came up with a plan to make some changes. She met new people through courses, learning new skills like coffee making. Danielle volunteered at the library during their stock take and loves to embrace her Māori culture and find a sense of belonging through Kapa Haka. Her recent article in the Kaikōura Star about the barista course, and her latest excellence in an NCEA english assessment are proof of her strength and skill in writing. Danielle is an inspiration to those who have been a part of her journey this year.
Ruslan Ataria-Ivannikov
A major asset to Kaikoura High School, Ruslan demonstrates his taha tinana through his love of sport and the outdoors and is committed to both participation and support in school sports. He embraces others through his taha hinengaro - always positive, welcoming, respectful and kind. As Head Boy, Ruslan demonstrates his taha whanau by commencing assemblies with a whakatauki led independently in front of the whole school. His mana is very evident in this role. Ruslan manages to strike the magic balance in being a humble yet strong leader. His taha wairua is centered around integrity and awhi. Rusland is a kind friend and an engaging leader; his positivity is ever present and he always makes time for others.
Rural Living Award - sponsored by Kaikōura District Council
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This award goes to someone who has skills for living on and caring for the land
Mary McGarry
Mary is a countryside champion, who you are very likely to find walking her cow down a road somewhere in Hāpuku. With a wide range of knowledge and practical experience with animals, tools, and everything else you could ever need on a farm, Mary is the sheep-whisperer; the rams she raises are as friendly as puppies handled from birth. She often helps out her neighbours with rural jobs she excels at, such as mending fences and herding, caring for and shearing sheep. Ask her about something farm-related, and Mary will light up with interest and gleefully share her passion with you.
Reuben Kinney
An energetic and positive rural lad, Reuben is a a level 3 raft guide at Clarence River Rafting. He is a hardworking young man who is always willing to give something new a go and happy to learn on the job. He enjoys learning about the local area so he can share information with clients. Reuben is passionate about hunting, and often spends his off days ridding the area of unwanted pests such as deer, enjoying hiking the beautiful mountains to find them, and camping out. He does things like mustering, yard work, shearing, water maintenance, and any other job that crops up on the farm. His speciality is fencing and his eagerness to learn and relentless energy make him an invaluable member of the Clarence River Rafting team, who feel very fortunate to have him working with them.
Leadership Award
​- sponsored by Te Runanga o Kaikōura
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This award is for someone who embraces their culture, demonstrates leadership, is willing to take on challenges, and assists others.
Cheyenne Laugesen
Cheyenne works at Kaikōura District Council, initially in the front of house team, then moving in to the planning team. It was evident right from the get go that she is a very special person: not only did she pick up the processes very quickly, but being a born and bred Kaikōura local, she knew everyone. Alongside her work, Cheyenne also signed up to the Mayor's Taskforce for Jobs Tuia Mentoring Programme, aimed at developing the leadership capacity of young Māori in Aotearoa. Cheyenne is expected to carry out and record 100 hours of community service, and she has embraced this opportunity energetically and enthusiastically.
Moki Manawatu
​Consistent and dependable, with a lovely presence, Moki shows a quiet but strong style of leadership. Throughout his time in the Youth Employability programme at Te Hā o Mātauranga, as a member of the Kaikōura High School rugby team, and Blue Light Empowering Youth Programme he has really stood out as a team player; cooperative and easy to get along with. His positive attitude is most infectious during unfavourable situations, and he inspires others to step up and get involved. Trustful and loyal to the people he loves and cares about, Moki will genuinely listen. He is a good role model to his friends, and due to his natural leadership, they follow. Moki will continue to positively impact and empower those around him as he journeys through life.
Environmental Award - sponsored by Innovative Waste Kaikōura
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This award is for someone that cares for the environment and does their best to fix things and helps with the environment in any way they can.
Tuhawaiiki McDonald
Tuhawaiiki recently participated in the Vines Free Program with the Mayor's Task Force for Jobs, eradicating Old Man's Beard and passionfruit vines in KDC owned land and public walkways. Tuhawaiiki was very informative and was able to educate the rest of the task force about the varieties of native plants and their uses. His knowledge of native plants was exhaustive! Now working on the Jobs for Nature Project, Tu continues to care for the environment through learning restorative and regenerative practices and predator control.
Josh Doughty
Josh has an innate sense for finding animals that need his help. Especially passionate about birdlife, Josh has an eagle eye for spotting sick, injured or abandoned animals, and he goes to great lengths to help. He has become well connected with local wildlife experts who love his enthusiasm and impart their knowledge to him so he can do more. In return he supports local bird groups such as the Banded Dotterels group and Hutton Shearwaters Trust as a volunteer; checking the drop off centre for shearwaters that have crash-landed on the roads and checking traps at the predator proof area on the peninsula. He has even slept out on the beach to monitor Banded Dotterel nesting sites and their safety from roaming cats at night.
​The animal kingdom is certainly richer having Josh in it.
Volunteering Award - sponsored by Kaikōura Op Shop
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This award is for someone who helps within our community and has made a positive difference without expecting anything in return.
Amber Fissenden
Amber has been a coach for the Kaikōura Judo Club for a number of years now. She has given up her time week in and week out without expecting anything in return. She is great with kids and has a real impact on their time doing judo.
Amber understands the value of volunteering for a club - from the interpersonal skills she has gained from working with younger participants, through to the positive role modelling that she shows and the impact this in turn has, to encourage others to volunteer as they grow and become mentors.
Without her help, the junior class would not run!
Freja Lister
Freja has a real servant’s heart. She volunteers her time every Sunday helping with the young ones during Sunday School at Kaikōura New Life Church. Freja always comes in Sunday morning and offers her time to set up, preparing morning tea for the kids and encouraging them to join in with her and help out if needed. She also regularly lends a hand with the food bank at the church, shopping for food items before packing and helping to deliver parcels. Freja quietly goes about volunteering her time in so many different ways and is much appreciated by many.
Customer Service Award
​- sponsored by Whalewatch Kaikōura
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This award goes to someone who displays enthusiasm, respect, motivation, is hard working and makes the workplace a fun environment.
Savannah Manawatu
Savannah exhibits amazing manaakitangi and whanaungatanga in her role as Kaiāwhina Rūnanga office assistant at Takahanga Marae. She welcomes manuhiri onto the Marae with an immense amount of pride for her hapu, Ngati Kuri. At the forefront of the Marae, Savannah has a great personality and sensitive manner and can put her hand to anything, from supporting others with cleaning, gardening, making traditional cultural arts and crafts for the tamariki, to her amazing skills in the kitchen. She greets everyone she meets with a glowing and friendly smile that just makes your day an even greater one.
Zachary Wilson
Zachary has been working at the checkout at New World for a while now. Incredibly friendly but still efficient at getting the job done, Zach always has a friendly word for each customer. He is always outgoing and 100% engaged which each customer, chatting to them with a big smile. He’s very professional — you could never tell he might be having a bad day and it seems like he really enjoys his job. His engaging sense of humour really improves the checkout experience and can brighten your day, causing you to leave the supermarket with a smile on your face. Recently he volunteered to shave his trademark high-top hairdo for Wig Wednesday, supporting the Child Cancer Foundation.
Adult Who Supports Youth Award - sponsored by Te Whare Putea Trust
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This is an adult who mentors, supports and encourages youth to be the best version of themselves. Think wide - this could be a teacher, coach, counsellors, or even a whānau member.
Mani Columbus
Mani is in the local library from 9am to 3pm four days a week helping her girls with their Te Kura distance learning. The girls she works with love her and her constant positivity and support; she encourages them to try new things, checks up on their mental health, and truly cares for her girls. She does an amazing job opening up their eyes to the endless possibilities available to them in the world, all with the sweetest smile on her face. Mani is inspiring to everyone, especially these girls who she is helping steer into a future where they can have the confidence to do anything they put their minds to. She goes above and beyond her paid work role, each and every day.
Lauren Martin
Technically a youth, but being recognised for the various roles she has with other younger youth, Lauren is the reporter for the local Kaikōura Star, and helps run Kaikōura’s newly established rainbow (LGBTQI+) group “Proudly Kaikōura”. She is also a Girl Guide leader and a netball umpire, and is always available to talk to the youth of the town about any concerns they may have and is keen to lend a helping hand. She can’t step foot into the supermarket without a kid spotting her and excitedly running up to chat. She has a natural ability to encourage and build up those around her.
We would also like to acknowledge all the people who were nominated for the 2021 Youth Awards - your contribution to our community is invaluable, thankyou for all that you do!

Congratulations to all the nominees:

​Alisha Laugesen, Alexis Harmon, Allelvia Bird, Amber Fissenden, Archie Kavanagh, Chelsea Annen, Cheyenne Laugesen, Danielle Bond, Dannielle Solheim, Eden Williams, Elbie Burnett, Freya Lister, Georgie Kavanagh, Hanatia Timms-Waihirere, Hailey Timms, Joanna York, Josh Doughty, Katie Nemeth, Liam Brown, Laila Harnett, Lauren Martin, Mani Columbus, Mananui Te Karu, Moki Manawatu, Mary McGarry, Reuben Kinney, Ruben Walford, Ruslan Ataria-Ivannikov, Rochelle Clark, Savannah Manawatu, Summer Fissenden, Sienna-Belle Norton, Sariah Te Amo, Tuhawaiiki McDonald, Theo Rae, Yazmine Tahau-Conroy, Zachary Wilson