Hamilton secondary student wins Prime Minister’s Award

The Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence was established in 2011 and recognises the success of the highest achieving New Zealand Scholarship student. The winner has the highest overall level of academic excellence of the New Zealand Scholarship Premier Award winners.

The 2016 Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence was awarded to Christopher Mayo of Hamilton Boys’ High School. Minister of Education the Hon Nikki Kaye presented the award at the New Zealand Scholarship Top Scholar Awards ceremony on her second day as Minister.

“At Hamilton Boys’ High Christopher distinguished himself as a true academic leader by consistently achieving to a very high level and excelling in a diverse range of subjects,” said Minister Kaye.

Christopher achieved Outstanding scholarships in biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, calculus, and Classical studies, as well as scholarships in English and media studies. He was also Top Subject Scholar for chemistry.

The Top Subject Scholar Awards recognise the top students from the 2016 New Zealand Scholarship examinations. Students, their families, representatives from the scholars’ schools and members of the education sector gather to recognise the extraordinary achievements of these students.

NZQA Acting Board Chair John Morgan presented the Top Subject Scholar Awards, which recognise the highest achieving student in each of the 35 New Zealand Scholarship subjects.

“The sheer talent, breadth and depth of success shown by this group of top scholars is truly inspirational. I know we can be confident that New Zealand will be in good hands with these future leaders,” he said.

Premier Awards are awarded to the top five to 10 New Zealand Scholarship students.

Ten Premier Award winners received their medals and certificates from the Minister, who acknowledged the hard work that goes into these achievements – not just from the students themselves, but also their families and schools.

Minister Kaye particularly acknowledged the parents of the award recipients.

“The reality is that for many of the young people here, while they have done extraordinary things, you have been with them every single step of the way.”

In 2016 Christopher Mayo was a prefect and was awarded Dux of Hamilton Boys’ High School.

As part of an extension programme, he took a course through Waikato University. He was runner-up at the 2016 New Zealand’s Next Top Engineering Scientist Competition and came first in the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry’s Analytical Chemistry Competition in 2015.

Christopher is a talented musician, playing electric keyboard and trombone, and over the last few years has become a private tutor, guiding students through the Guildhall examinations. He has been in several bands for school and within the Hamilton community.

Christopher took on several leadership roles in his last year of school, including being on the academic committee. He was a member of the chess team, the premier debating team, and took part in the Model UN.

As he accepted the award, Christopher spoke about the power of opportunities, and emphasised the importance for all New Zealanders to have access to educational opportunities.