On Sunday, 15th March, the Mount Panorama Lions Club hosted the first step in this Australia-wide quest to find a suitable candidate to become the Australian Youth of the Year.
Five years ago, this honour had gone to local girl Zoe Peters, who had been selected in the Bathurst round of the Quest, and two years ago, our own candidate Poppy Starr had reached the State final. This year, four candidates nominated by their schools as suitable all-rounders faced the three judges at Panthers Club, where they were quizzed on the details of their entry forms and asked a few general knowledge questions.
The annual quest is to find an all-rounder with good communication skills, a willingness to be part of their wider community, and leadership skills. The Quest has been running since 1964, and over that time, thousands of young people, including at one stage our local members Andrew Gee and Paul Toole, have had a chance to demonstrate these characteristics, all of which will be a great help in their careers. Merely being selected by their schools reflects how highly their teachers and peers hold them, and it will look great on their CVs.
The four students were Ada Bates, Daniel Goldsmith, Sarah McRobert and Matilda Morley. They represented Denison College Bathurst High Campus, St. Stanislaus, Mackillop, and Scots All Saints, and were assessed by the panel of judges: Marguerite McKibbin, Millaine Longmore, and John Henderson. After the personal interviews in the morning, the public speaking section took place before an audience of family, friends and Lions club members. Each student was asked two impromptu, sight-unseen questions and then presented their fascinating five-minute prepared speeches.
As always, these four students were so impressive, which made the judges’ task so hard, but in the end, Matilda was selected to go on to the next round, the Northern Regional, held in Canowindra last Sunday. Here, Matilda’s opponent, Ryan from Grenfell, was the chosen candidate, but they were assessed as being very close, so both of them were selected to go through to the Zone final to be held in Griffith in mid-April. Matilda will receive a personal trophy, and her school will receive the perpetual trophy to display for the coming year. The Mount Panorama Lions Club members would like to congratulate all candidates for their performances and particularly wish Matilda all the very best for the coming rounds.
