Students in Casey were lauded for their selfless pursuits such as raising funds to protect orang-utans in Indonesia or starting a Breakfast Club to nutriciously feed their peers.
The 2016 Holt Community Spirit and Leadership Awards, held by federal MP Anthony Byrne, recognised 45 students from 41 schools on 12 December.
“We heard outstanding stories of students going above and beyond to help others,” Mr Byrne said.
A student held numerous fund-raisers and took part in fun-runs to help buy 40 hectares of protected forest habitat for endangered species in Borneo and Sumatra.
It was sparked by helping look after orphan orang-utans in sanctuaries in Borneo in 2014.
Since her return, she has signed petitions for mandatory labelling of palm oil and given talks at school on the subject.
She recently adopted two orang-utans, Rahayu and Chocolate, through the Orang-utan Project.
Another student was recognised for collaborating with Cranbourne East Secondary College’s student leaders to set up a twice-weekly Breakfast Club.
Thanks to his hard work, the club provided breakfast for up to 60 people a session.
It’s the 15th year of the awards, run to celebrate the positive contributions of young people, Mr Byrne said.
“I am very proud of the local community and the inspirational efforts of our kids who are making our community a better place.”
Award winners received a framed certificate and a Village Cinemas voucher.
Recipients were: Alkira Secondary College -Justin Coleman
Casey Grammar School – Bradley Harris
Chalcot Lodge Primary School – Maleisha Fernando
Coral Park Primary School – Aaron Konwalow
Courtney Gardens Primary School – Bianca Buckley
Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School – Brooke Galley
Cranbourne East Primary School – Prabhu Annavai Prabhakar
Cranbourne East Secondary College – Bailey Smith
Cranbourne Park Primary School – Haylee Phillips
Cranbourne Primary School – Maali Albert
Cranbourne Secondary College – Neil Reilly
Cranbourne West Primary School – Remi Minto
Dandenong Valley School – Rai Miranda
Doveton College – Karissa Peters
Doveton College – Kimberly Dou
Fountain Gate Primary School – Ed Moreno
Fountain Gate Secondary College – Jasmine Gonzalez
Gleneagles Secondary College – Anthony Clarke
Hallam Primary School – Arnela Haisila
Hallam Senior College – Sohaila Ahmadi
Hampton Park Primary School – Victoria Kumari
Hillsmeade Primary School – Kai Maas
James Cook Primary School – Daniel Selimi
Kilberry Valley Primary School – Yasara Abeysekara
Lynbrook Primary School – Spencer Tarnok
Lyndhurst Primary School – Charlotte Gruneklee-Smallman
Lyndhurst Secondary College – Matthew Cooper
Marnebek School Cranbourne – Kayla Damon
Mossgiel Park Primary School – Sienna Volkoff
Narre Warren South P-12 College – Sheza Malik
Narre Warren South P-12 College – Garry Ford
Nossal High School – Emily Lai
Rangebank Primary School – Tayissah O’Donnell
Southern Cross Primary School – Cooper Robertson
St Agatha’s Primary School – Isabella Duiker
St Catherine’s Primary School – Charlie Nelson
St Kevin’s Primary School – Angana Santhosh Kumar
St Paul Apostle North Primary School – Nandira Xavier
St Paul Apostle North Primary School – Avantiika Singh
St Paul Apostle South Primary School – Alessia Biondi
St Peter’s College – Chloe Harbour
Strathaird Primary School – Adele Carthew
Thomas Mitchell Primary School – Lily-Rose Campbell
Waverley Christian College – Leticia Riyanto
Waverley Christian College – Garrett Munyard
