Coup for Taipa Area School

Te Hau Ariki Toi Gardiner (Taipa Area School), Taylor Adkins (Okaihau College), Gabrielle Harris (Northland College), Kauwiti Selwyn (Northland College) and Quinn Moffatt (Taipa Area School).

Students from Taipa Area School have won the two top places in a contest aiming to recognise and reward outstanding Far North youth.

The winner of the Lions Young Ambassador contest, 17-year-old Quinn Moffatt from Mangonui, took home $1000 to help pay for next year's studies and will represent the Far North at the upper North Island finals in Auckland next month.

The runner-up was Te Hau Ariki Toi Gardiner, also 17, from Whatuwhiwhi. Third place went to Taylor Adkins, 18, of Okaihau College.

Every school in the Far North is invited to nominate one or two senior students, who have to submit a CV detailing their community involvement, hold a 10-minute interview with a trio of judges, then give a five-minute speech on the topic of their choice. More than 100 people attended the contest hosted by the Okaihau Lions Club in the Okaihau Town Hall on Wednesday.

Quinn said he was surprised to win given the strength of the other candidates. He would put his winnings towards next year's business studies at Massey University.

"I'm not much of a speaker but I thought, 'I'll give it a go, grab it with both hands and run with it'."

A significant part of each contestant's final score was based on community involvement. Quinn is a youth soccer coach, St John cadet leader and Far North Coastguard Radio volunteer.

Judge Dennis Corbett, of Bay of Islands Realty, said it was a pleasure to meet "such wonderful new leaders".

While Quinn's speech was not as good as some of the others, he scored well in the interview and had "unquestionably" the strongest CV. The other judges were Ohaeawai School principal Lee Whitelaw and Okaihau Lions Club president Kate Carr. Mayor John Carter and deputy Tania McInnes attended, as did Lions from Kaikohe, Mangonui, Okaihau, Opononi, Waipapa and Waitangi clubs.

Te Hau Ariki spoke about the state of te reo Maori and the importance of learning the language.

Taylor spoke about leadership, his experience of Outward Bound and overcoming his fear of public speaking. Young opera singer Kauwiti Selwyn, 18, of Northland College, gave the stand-out speech about the joy of sharing his music. Gabrielle Harris, 17, also from Northland College, called on the audience to become champions for youth.

Quinn asked whether technology was friend or foe.