More than 80 finalists were up for an award with the winners being: Auburn Girls High School student Leanne El-Kheir, 16 – Academic (Special Needs) Award; Guildford Public School’s Jack Jiang, 11 – Academic (Junior) Award; Guilford Public’s Phoebe Empasis, 11 – Leadership (Junior) Award; Guildford West’s Luke Tapply, 11 – Community Service (Junior); Merrylands’ Jonathan Semaan, 14 – Fine Arts (Senior) Award; Merrylands’ Antonia Kyriakos, 17 – Outstanding Employee, Trainee or Vocational Student Award; Merrylands’ Amelia Darek, 13 – Sports (Senior) Award; and Regents Park’s Sienna Kong, 10 – Performing Arts (Individual Junior).
Jonathan said: “I’m so excited to have won this award and I really want to encourage more young people my age to give Fine Arts a try; it’s very interesting, you can learn lots of techniques but most of all it’s very relaxing.”
Antonia said: “I’m very grateful for this opportunity and I just hope everyone in the workplace my age always strives to be the best employee they can.”
The Young Champions Awards was initiated by entrepreneur Brian Laul, Chairperson of Rainbow Crossing Inc and vice president of the Greater Cumberland Chamber of Commerce, to acknowledge the achievements of young people under 19 and celebrate the contributions they make to the wider community.
“It is my hope that these awards will inspire young people of all backgrounds to rise above their difficulties and pursue a journey of excellence,” Mr Laul said.
Details: youngchampionsaward.com.