Mayoral Graduation Ceremony acknowledges ongoing commitment to education
Central Hawke’s Bay graduates were acknowledged at the annual Central Hawke’s Bay Mayoral Graduation Ceremony last week.
Held at the Municipal Theatre in Waipawa, and hosted by Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker, the graduation saw the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs partner with the Waipukurau Rotary Club to celebrate success within the community.
Sixteen graduates who qualified in a broad range of fields were presented certificates by Mayor Walker at the Central Hawke’s Bay celebration.
It is the first year the local Rotary has collaborated on the joint event, with the Club presenting the Rotary Young Employee of the Year and four highly commended.
The overall winner and Central Hawke’s Bays 2021 Rotary Young Employee of the Year was awarded to Morgan Dysart from Pleroma. Keira Oliver from Hawkes Bay District Health Board, Cleavelin Cook from Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Josh Renall from Nola’s Café and Ben Swinburne from Central Hawke’s Bay District Council were highly commended.
“I’d like to personally congratulate every single one of last night’s Graduates, who have worked so hard to upskill by continuing their education in Central Hawke’s Bay," Mayor Walker said.
She says the commitment to education shown by these people is providing excellent employment outcomes for people of all sectors.
“The concept of earning while learning, enabling our young workers to continue to earn a living and contribute to business and the economy while also achieving a qualification, is a really clever way to upskill.
“It opens the door to continued education for a lot of our people and it is fantastic to spend an evening celebrating this.”
The Mayors Taskforce for Jobs is a network of New Zealand’s Mayors, working toward the common goal of all youth partaking in appropriate education, training, work or other positive activities.
It offers industry training graduation ceremonies nationwide to recognise the achievements of graduate trainees.
“This last week has shown me that scattered all across Central Hawke’s Bay there is much hope in the younger generation, that as a growing and vibrant community, we are well equipped to meet the challenges that our community faces now, and into the future,” said David Tilyard, Vocational, Youth & Recreation Services, Waipukurau Rotary Club.
The guest speaker of the evening was Robby Smith, General Manager of Stephenson and Taylor. Mr Smith is a local employer who has employed many local apprentices throughout the years and was a former apprentice himself.
