Outstanding young achievers recognised at Youth Awards

“Work hard – it doesn’t matter where you land – just work hard.” 

These are the words of wisdom passed down from Leonardo Coghini, former two-time recipient of the Porirua Youth Awards, to the Award winners of 2024. Leonardo’s classical and jazz music obsession formed the basis of his career and led to him traveling the world and becoming one of the country’s most sought-after session musicians.

Speaking on the night to inspire the next generation, Leonardo demonstrated that Porirua can act as a springboard to the rest of the world.

The Awards held during September 2024 recognised outstanding achievement of Year 7 to 13 students across five categories: Art and Culture, Education, Sport, STEM, and Environmental or Community Work.

Partners Porirua General Manager, Salā Henry Samia says that every year the standards seem to get higher. “This year we had a junior student (Year 8) that had already done exceptionally well achieving NCEA Level 2 – it’s stories like that which inspire others.”

He says it’s exciting to see the potential of the younger generation coming through. 

“We don’t know what careers are going to look like in the next five to 10 years – everything is changing so fast. Even the most talented of young people will be a bit daunted by that but we hope that this recognition, and the financial contributions they received as winners, will help turn that apprehension into excitement for the future.”

Henry says friends, whanau, teachers and principals turned out in full force to support the young achievers. Mayor Anita Baker and MP Barbara Edmonds, both passionate supporters of rangatahi in Porirua also attended.

You can check out the full list of our winners at partnersporirua.org.nz/celebrating-rangatahi/.