Students aim for achievement award

THE outgoing principal of Lowestoft College will be the guest of honour at the Student Achievement of the Year Awards next week.

The ninth annual Celebration of Achievement Awards, sponsored by The Journal, takes place at the Hotel Victoria, on Kirkley Cliff, on Wednesday, June 16.

Twenty talented students have been shortlisted for the ceremony.

Each year, tutors nominate students for the awards, and principal Gwen Parsons had the difficult task of whittling them down from 58.

The finalists, together with their friends, family, tutors and local VIPs, have been invited to attend the glittering award ceremony.

Each finalist will receive a certificate and prize to mark their achievements and will also wait to hear whether they will claim the title of Lowestoft Journal Student of the Year, an award sponsored by the paper.

Editor Max Bennett and acting principal Teresa Miller have chosen the overall winner, but the student's identity will be a closely guarded secret until the evening.

Two additional awards will be handed out on the evening. The President's Award, sponsored by the Lowestoft and Waveney Chamber of Commerce, is presented to a student who has shown entrepreneurial promise, and the Alumnus Award, goes to a former student who has forged a successful career in their chosen field.

This year's guest speaker will be college principal Gwen Parsons.

Teresa Miller said: 'The awards were introduced by Gwen when she first joined the college in 2002 and, as this is her final year as principal before she retires in August, it is fitting for Gwen to be the guest of honour.'

Finalists in the Lowestoft College Celebration of Achievement Awards are: Jodie Rafferty, Tommy Rudd, Abigail Scarlett, Jordan Shimmon, Roy McKee, Andrew Middleton, Nathan Patrick, Richanda Poulter, Kate Barnes, Aaron Bloomfield, Stephen Bullock, Michael Driscoll, Wendy Durrant, Peter Garrod, David Green, Shannon Hamilton, Craig Tompkins, Callum Wade, Bethany Weston and David Wilson.