"Oh, he's just good at everything!" pronounced Bee Kirk when I asked Ben Power what awards he'd won at the recent Wanganui High School award ceremonies.
It seems she was right, as it took Ben some time to list all he'd won. He won a service badge, an excellence certificate for the winner of the best original composition section of the Wanganui secondary schools chamber music competition and an excellence certificate for being a member of the best team in the Wanganui Senior Model United Nations.
Those were Ben's awards at the Cultural Prize Giving. The academic prizes he won include a tied first equal in the cup for excellence in mathematics and distinction certificates in music, drama, English, mathematics, physics, geography, and design and visual communication.
Quite impressive, yet he remains quite modest regarding his achievements. Always polite and self-effacing , Ben is a thoroughly likable young man.
I talked to him last year when he was the pianist for the Red Riding Hood panto and this year he's the pianist for Jack and the Beanstalk.
Ben composes music for his own enjoyment, aspiring to a career in musical composition following university. He'd really like to do some acting as well as he really enjoys the drama classes at school.
"It's great fun," he says.
"I like to invent new languages too, like Tolkien. Lord of the Rings is a favourite of mine and I like to write stories too. I keep getting good ideas for stories."
It'll be interesting to see what this creative talent produces in years to come.
Bee Kirk is the other Wanganui High School student working with the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk. Bee also distinguished herself at the Cultural Awards Evening, winning the Principal's Cup for Outstanding Service to the cultural life of the school and the Glenys Pluck Trophy for service to drama for the second year in a row.
Just as she did last year Bee is the stage manager for Jack and the Beanstalk, a big responsibility. She's worked with teacher Colin Hedivan on the last five shows he's directed.
"I designed the lighting for all of those shows too, and yes, lighting design is still the field I'm particularly interested in."
