Deputy Head girl Jess Cliffe, Head Girl Isobel Prasad, Head Boy Sam Burt and Deputy Head Boy Ali Abbari. (photos courtesy of Brenna Quinlivan)
Head Boy, Sam Burt
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
My name is Sam and I'm 17 years old. I was born in Wellington, and ended up moving to Switzerland for three years when I was only three months old! I enjoy playing football in my spare time and have a huge passion for music, whether it is writing songs or jamming with friends whenever I can.
What key things motivated you to apply for the role of Head Boy?
I have always had a strong passion for leadership and helping people. To me, leadership is a very important part of learning and growth, and I believe it helps develop essential qualities in people. I find that in everyday subjects and tasks, I'm constantly pushing myself to be the best I can be, and this was an opportunity for me to push myself even further and to develop as an individual.
What do you wish to achieve as head boy?
I would like to make a positive difference within our school and community. I am very proud of the way Burnside students are recognized for their efforts within our school, and I would like to encourage students to follow their best interests and motivate others to do the same. My goal for this year is to inspire others to follow their passions, support each other's ambitions and strive as individuals.
What is your vision for the senior division and how they act as a community?
I would be excited to see our senior division grow as a community. We are a very diverse group of students in relation to our different talents and cultures, and I would like to see our division set an example for the rest of the school, as well as sustaining a close connection with the other divisions. I hope that we continue to respect and support each other while making the most of the time we have left here at Burnside. My goal is that by the end of this year we are able to look back and be proud of what we have achieved here as a community.
What kind of Burnside do you want to leave behind?
I would like to leave a school that continues to be exceptionally proud and encouraging of its students. I believe the range of skill and talent in this school is extraordinary and well recognized. From the minute I walked into Burnside, I was instantly surrounded by people who shared a passion for growth and were willing to learn, try new things and form lifelong friendships. I would love to see our school staff and students continue to support one another and celebrate each other's success.
If you could leave us with one important message right now, what would it be?
Make the most of every day you have left here at Burnside. It won't be long before we are all heading off in different directions and entering a new chapter of our lives. Enjoy and be grateful for the days you spend with each other and the opportunities that lie before you.
Head Girl, Isobel Prasad
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
My name is Isobel Prasad, but I'm better known around the school as Izzy, I'm 17 years old and I am part Maori, Irish, Scottish and Fijian Indian. I was born in Christchurch but moved to Fiji when I was five and lived there for 5 years. I come from a pretty big family and we are all passionate about the performing arts, such as dancing, singing, acting or any situation that involves expressing ourselves.
What key things motivated you to apply for the role of Head Girl?
I have always had a strong passion for leadership and I believe it is one of my biggest strengths. I had set my eyes on the role of Head Girl ever since I was a child. To me, life is purely about learning and growing as individuals, and I saw this opportunity as a good way to develop my leadership skills, grow as a person and also contribute to my love of people.
What do you wish to achieve as Head Girl?
As head girl for 2017, I would like to create as many opportunities for the year 13's to have a fun and successful senior year! Although I see my major goal for this position being the unity of the senior division, I would also like to create a unified Burnside High School. I want to see students who are encouraging, praising and accepting of others and I want to inspire students to strive to be the best they can be in everything that they do.
Last year you received the Burnside trophy for Te Reo Maori, what role would you like Maori culture or other bi-cultural aspects to play at Burnside?
Burnside High School is highly fortunate for its diversity, and I believe that it is important that these cultures are expressed and celebrated throughout all areas of the school. Due to the fact that I am made up of many cultures and not just Maori, I am passionate about everyone feeling comfortable about being themselves in our school environment. Students should not have to leave their culture or identity at the gate when they arrive at school, it should flourish and be accepted and nourished within our school community. I was fortunate enough to receive this trophy last year after a busy year promoting 'Te ao Maori' (the Maori world) around Burnside, and I am excited to see the progress that will occur in terms of cultural acceptance and celebration throughout the year.
What is your vision for the senior division and how they act as a community?
Because we have all been thrown together from three different divisions, I would like to see a united senior division, with students enjoying and making the most of their last year with one another. I also think it is important that the Senior Division maintains a link with the other three divisions and acts as role models who assist growing leaders within all year levels.
What kind of Burnside do you want to leave behind?
It is expected for every student to want to make their mark at Burnside High School, but for me in particular, I would like to leave behind a school and students who are culturally respective, have pride in who they are, are empathetic towards others, who persevere no matter the outcome and try their hardest in every task set upon them. Although this task will take its course over a number of years, I can assure everyone that we are well on track to achieving this. It is evident in a huge number of students already. I shall leave Burnside High School happy knowing that I was able to partake in this journey.
Deputy Head Boy, Ali Abbari
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
Hi, I'm deputy head boy of Burnside High School this year, following on from being deputy head boy of West division last year. I spend most of my time at school annoying technology teachers, and when I'm not doing that I'm being confused by my calculus and physics teachers. I stuck around for Year 13 because I want to study engineering next year, and apparently you have to take Level 3 physics and calculus to be accepted. If I didn't end up going down the graphics and digital technology path I probably would have taken sports leadership or outdoor pursuits because I like being active and getting outdoors. Something people probably don't know about me is that I love DIY projects, to the extent where half of my room is taken up by tools, materials and gadgets that I have built or am in the process of completing. I'm also currently in the Cadet Forces, which takes up a decent chunk of my time when teaching year 9 and 10 students how to shoot rifles and fly planes. In contrast, probably one of the most obvious things about me is that I'm the cringe factor in our assemblies, a trait which I have no intention of changing.
What key things motivated you to apply for the role of head prefect?
I applied for the role because I felt I had the confidence to lead people and help make our final year a successful and enjoyable one (in reality I was aiming for the sweet lettering in the Aurora Center and my face on the billboard outside the school). I had received experience from being deputy head boy of West division last year, so I thought that it would be a good step up from that role, and I received a lot of encouragement and support from my deans, friends and fellow prefects throughout the whole process. Ultimately, I'm here to be a friendly, approachable face for our division who wants us all to graduate at the end of the year with a smile.
What do you wish to achieve as Deputy Head Boy?
Like I described earlier, I am focused on ensuring that Senior Division has a good time this year and we can all graduate feeling satisfied with our final year at Burnside. I want to organize a bunch of events, like the orientation day earlier this year, that get us all to mingle and socialize with people we aren't well-acquainted with because of us being in different classes and divisions. I'd like to think we can all finish our year being mates with each other.
What is your vision for the senior division and how they act as a community?
Over the last few months, I've seen and met a lot of Year 13 students who I haven't seen during the past four years at BHS. This was pretty much my main attraction towards year 13 (aside from the mufti, lunch passes, home study and the canteen line, of course), because being in a school of more than 2500 students makes it hard to get to know everyone. I was excited to get to know my year group better and so far that's gone as planned, it's exactly what I feel is the biggest 'plus' for all of us being in one division. However, there are still people who I haven't seen in years and don't see on a daily basis, to the point where I'm surprised when I do see them. This is something I want to change by the end of the year and I hope that I can achieve that by organizing times where we can all get together as a division, meet new people, form new bonds and have a good time.
What kind of Burnside do you want to leave behind?
I realized at the end of last year that the school isn't really divided into four divisions, but actually into two; Senior division...and everyone else. We had minimal interaction with the seniors over the last four years and they seemed so detached from the rest of our school that it was as if we were two separate schools. When I applied for head prefect, I couldn't even name all four of the current ones. I want to bridge the gap between the divisions and introduce more events and activities where we can participate as a whole school, not just one division or year group. I want to leave this school knowing that it is one big school, not a sea of little green people and a bunch of other people commonly mistaken for student teachers or university students.
Deputy Head Girl, Jess Cliffe
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I am Jess Cliffe and I am lucky enough to be Deputy head girl at Burnside high this year. For the previous four years I was part of North division, and was appointed head girl for my last year. I have been involved in various areas of the school including sports such as swimming and water-polo, performing arts and academics, in particular science and mathematics.
What key things motivated you to apply for the role of head prefect?
Having thoroughly enjoyed my time at Burnside over the past four years, I wanted to have my part in contributing to the success of a school that has given me so many opportunities and experiences and ensure that others get to enjoy the same things I did. I wanted to learn about what goes on behind the scenes to make the school operate fluidly and learn how I can incorporate that into my life.
What do you wish to achieve as Deputy head girl?
As Deputy head girl I hope to achieve a collaborative atmosphere between all year groups. I came into the role with the idea to try and connect the junior and senior divisions to allow for feedback and communication on what is happening within the school. I hope to carry this out by attending divisional prefect and school council meetings so that every year group can have a say on what they think the school should be like and it needs.
What kind of dynamic do the head prefects share as a group?
We have a very collaborative dynamic as a unit and we try to share responsibilities as evenly as possible. We all seem to understand each other's skill sets and talents, and I think that it is important because we are all so different in the best way. It's awesome to get to work with three other like-minded people that share your passion and worth ethic, but it's also cool to see the unique way we approach things and learning about one others strengths and weaknesses.
What is your vision for the senior division and how they act as a community?
The senior division are the leaders of the school in every sense of the word. We are the oldest students and the role models for other students. I think as a community, we need to embody this sense of leadership and have a collective front, forming a group of positive and supportive mentors that improve the school and act to develop their skill sets for the benefit of others.
What kind of Burnside do you want to leave behind?
I hope to leave behind a Burnside High School that really harnesses the school values; have pride, be respectful and strive to excel, in everything that it does. That is what our school is currently working towards at present, and I think incorporating these values into everything that the school does will allow for a positive and collaborative environment.
If you could leave us with one inspirational nugget of wisdom, what would it be?
Someone once told me not to bite off more than I could chew, I decided I'd rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity. Which is why you should always buy a whole pizza for yourself.
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