Minister congratulates winners of essay contest

Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry today announced the winners of the national youth essay competition, ‘1914 – 2014: The greatest greats and grands of the last 100 years.’ 

The competition was launched in October 2014 to coincide with New Zealand’s First World War centenary commemorations. It encouraged primary school students to write about older people that have been inspirational to them and aimed to encourage intergenerational understanding.

The two winners are Rosemary Horsley, Year 7, Tauranga Intermediate School and Shea Juilland-Vickers, Year 7, Rosebank Primary School in Balclutha. 

“I commend these two young writers on the outstanding job they have done in capturing their grandparent’s stories, and illustrating just how special these experiences have been for them,” says Ms Barry.

Today, the students visited Parliament and Minister Barry presented each of them with a $100 book voucher prize, along with a $500 book voucher award for their schools.

“I was impressed by the high quality of the almost 100 entries. It’s heartening to see the interest young people showed in understanding the lives of older role models,” says Ms Barry.

Two judges of the essay competition, Dame Kate Harcourt, and Jim Ross were also present at the meeting to congratulate the winners.

Excerpts from some of the essays will be used to inform the Report on the Positive Ageing Strategy, due for release in April 2015.