Issue 12 - 4 September 2012 Westlake Girls High School 50th ...

Issue 12 - 4 September 2012Julia Wiener, Su In Jeong and Ms L. WaiteAngela Zhang, Penny Peng, Mrs Hodges, Karthiga PathumanithyDebatingThis year our debating girls have done remarkablywell in all areas of the AucklandSchools Debating Competition.One of the Senior Open teams made it intothe top 16 knock out round out of 100teams in the Auckland Region. The teamconsisted of: Karthiga Pathumanithy, JessTsang, Angela Zhang and Penny Peng.They were coached by Mrs Hodges.We had three Junior Open teams advanceto the top 16 knock out round, with oneteam making it through to the semi-finals.The team consisted of: Kimberley Bellas,Rebekah Waters, Sally Choi, Sue Jeongand Julia Wiener and was coached by MissWaite.At the ASD prize giving, Kimberley Bellaswas awarded the top speaker for the NorthernZone Junior Open debating grade. Thisis a great achievement in her first year ofdebating.Congratulations to all the girls. We are veryproud of you.We look forward to taking back the ThorburnCup in our annual debate against theBoys’ School in the last week of term, afterschool in the Library. Please come andsupport the girls.Congratulations to Emily Oosterhof, Hannah Carlsen and CatherineBott who have been selected to represent New Zealand at the FIFAUnder 17 Women’s Football World Cup in Azerbaijan in September.Hannah and Catherine will be co-captaining the team.Geist String QuartetCongratulations to LaurenBennett, Britta Balzat,Sophie Lee and SallyKim, National Winners(second year running) of the NZ Secondary Schools Chamber Music Competition.Geist havealso been invited to perform at the Shanghai International Arts Festival in September 2012.Westlake Girls High School 50 th JubileeHead Girl Zailie Gillard is pictured with our Jubilee mascot. These Bears can be purchasedfrom the school. They are just one of the items of memorabilia available to celebrate this importantoccasion.If you are an ex pupil we would love to see you. If you know of any of our past students couldyou please tell them about our celebrations are on Saturday 20 th and Sunday 21 st of October(yes it is Labour weekend)The web site for programme details and registration is: http://www.westlakejubilee.co.nz

Amnesty InternationalYear 11 Market Day“When the teachers announcedthat our upcoming internal wouldinclude a Year 11 market day,excited whispers quickly circulatedthe room. The internal wasworth six credits and the eventwas scheduled for 24 August2012. We were all expected tostart our businesses from scratch,producing high quality products tosell and an in-depth businessplan which included advertisements.By 12:25 every group had set uptheir stalls and we were all waitingin anticipation for a buyingfrenzy which was sure to ensue.In a matter of minutes the entirehall was packed with students, allscrambling to buy the foods onoffer that included Bubble Tea,Rocky Road, Toffee Apples, OreoTruffles, Smoothies and Fudge.My stall, which was selling BubbleTea and Oreo Truffles, was completelyswamped with customers.Along with several other stalls, wehad easily sold out within half anhour, earning us a very healthyprofit! Overall it was an incrediblyfun and enjoyable experiencewhich helped me to gain an insightinto the operations of asmall business. Participating inthis market day has left me veryexcited to see what the Year 10sproduce for their market day.”Katie Doyle, Year 11Many thanks to all those who have participated in AmnestyInternational this year. We had a very successful FreedomChallenge Week, with a focus on Forced Evictions. Meetingshave finished for this year and we look forward to seeing youall in 2013. If students wish to apply to become an Amnestyleader in 2013, see Ms Brown in A20 or the Social Sciencesoffice for an application form. These need to be in by theend of Term 3. Ms Brown also has Amnesty T-shirts for $15if you wish to purchase one.Design: Sumya Islam 12MHTV3 Student VisitHilary Barry kindly hosted students on a recent visit to TV3. Studentshad a tour of the studio and a Q & A session with Hilary aboutthe varied roles in the media industry. Three of these students areYear 13 and have all applied to various tertiary providers for communicationsdegrees. Students L-R Darriane Webb, Hana Akehurst,Amber Pountney and Melissa Baker with Hilary Barry and SimonShepherd from TV3.LanguagesInternational Languages Week was celebrated during week 6 of this term. Westlake Girls is a truly multi-lingual environment with fiveinternational languages which can be learned and also many other languages which are spoken by our staff and students. Picturedare: our two German assistants at the food stall; two students dressed in tradtional kimonos selling sushi; and a performance by twoLatin American dancers representing Spanish.

Year 12 PE Camp“On Sunday 29 th July, 70 Year12 PE students made their waydown to the Tongariro OutdoorPursuits Centre, and I waslucky enough to be one ofthem. The bus ride was longand filled with much anticipationbut eventually we were dumpingour bags in our new temporaryhomes. Then we just hadtime for a quick intro before wewere all off to bed. The week tocome was full of challenges andexcitement and each daybrought something new. Ourinstructors helped us all to testour limits and I think everyonewas amazed at what they couldaccomplish when they pushedthemselves.Struggling up the giant’s ladderon the high ropes course was areal test for our team buildingand problem solving skills…,not to mention shoulderstrength! And walking backwardsdown a cliff face can’t beseen as relaxing for anyone.Abseiling was definitely a realchallenge for a lot of us but theamazing view and awesomeexperience had half of us wantingto climb up and do it again.Guiding our way through theOkupata caves with only thelight of the glow worms to showus the way was definitely one ofthe highlights of the week forme. The cave was full of nooksand crannies that we found ourselvessqueezing through toarrive in giant chambers, allhidden underground. It wasquite a surreal experience andone that I’m definitely keen totry again.Lying in bed on the Mondaynight and listening to the rainpelting down outside I was sosure our ski day was a gonner.So waking up the next morningto find clear skies and an amazingview of the mountains with with a strange combination ofmorning we refueled ourselvesnice fresh snow out our window noodles, porridge and milo beforepacking up our littlewas an awesome surprise. Ihad heaps of fun trying to mastersnowboarding with my back towards civilization Icampsite. As we made our wayfriends and our endless supply couldn’t help feeling a little sadof bails never failed to amuse our experience was nearly over.us.Everyone had their own challenges,for some the abseilingFinally our overnight hikepushed us all Flying to our Whales—Hayley limits. The was Garcia the biggest test, and forhours of endless walking hadour calves burning and backsaching, but the views werebreathtaking and being out inthe wilderness, away from theusual busyness of everyday life,was invigorating. The sundropped quickly as we werepitching our tents and we soonfound ourselves very, very cold.Hot raro has never tasted sogood! After dinner we alljumped straight into our sleepingbags and tried to get warmenough to sleep. The nextothers a night in the bush wascompletely out of their comfortzone. For me one of the biggestchallenges was teaming up withpeople I didn’t really know. But Ishouldn’t have worried, theywere all awesome people andby the end of the week we allknew each other really well. I’mso glad I got to share this experiencewith them. PE camp hasdefinitely been a highlight of mytime at Westlake so far.”Jess Munt, Year 12

Barfoot & ThompsonMairangi BaySunday 11th November 2012RUN OR WALK FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY3km, 5km or 8kmScenic Runalong thecoastal walkway8.45am startMairangi Bay Park(Ramsgate Tce)race briefing 8.30amweather permittingand EARLYBIRD DISCOUNTSenter onlineentertainmentSPOT PRIZESfood & drinkFREE voucher(for the first 170 children to register)see website for detailswww.mairangibayfunrun.co.nz

Registration• For event details or entries go to www.mairangibayfunrun.co.nz• Earlybird offers of $10 for 3km or 5km and $20 for 8km available untilSunday 28th October. Prices will then increase to $15 and $25• The first 170 children registered receive either a $10 Subway card orUnited Video Mairangi Bay “new release” voucher (at organisers’ discretion)• Online entries open until 6pm on Thursday 8th November• Late entries will be available, see website for detailsImportant info• All participants must be present for Race Safety Briefing at 8.30am• no road closures - participants must obey the instructions ofmarshals and give way to traffic at all times• NO REFUNDS will be given (even in the unlikely event of cancellation)• CHILDREN - (under 16) may enter the 3km or 5km event but must beaccompanied by a registered adult and remain the responsibility oftheir caretaker at all times throughout the race and after-event activities• Pushchairs permitted - but NO DOGS, scooters, rollerblades, bikes, etcGUMDIGGERS TRAILALL DISTANCES WILL FOLLOWTHE 3KM COURSE & EXTENDWHERE INDICATED8km ExtensionGULF VIEW RDCHURCHILL RD5km ExtensionWALKWAY3km CourseBEACH RDDRINK STATIONS5KM & 8KM EXITAT MURRAYS BAYBOURNEMOUTH TCEMurrays BayBeachSTART8.45amMAIRANGIBAY PARKFINISH3km5km or8kmWALKWAYMAIRANGIBAY VILLAGEWHITBY CRES3KM EXIT ATMAIRANGI BAYBEACH RDSURF CLUBMairangi BayBeachVIEW RDESPLANADECampbells BayBeachBEACHFRONT