Another first for Andrea

Andrea Devenish, a Grade 11 learner, is the first Plasie to qualify in order to receive the Silver Presidents’ Award.

In order to achieve this, she played hockey for six months, did computer studies as her skill, undertook a three day adventurous journey of approximately 40 kilometres in the Magoebaskloof mountains, and did forty eight hours of voluntary community service. Andrea has already started working towards the gold Award, an endeavour that will take no

less than twelve months to compete. At present there are more than fifty learners at High School Merensky involved in this programme.

The bronze award has already been awarded to fourteen Plasies, with the rest still working towards it.

This challenging Duke of Edinburgh International Award is available in over hundred and forty countries, of which twenty five are on the African continent.

There are over eight hundred and fifty thousand active participants worldwide, of which fourteen thousand three hundred reside in South Africa.

The first institution to present this award, was the St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown, under the name: The Gold Shield Award. In 1993, it became known as “the President’s

Award for Youth Empowerment”, with President Nelson Mandela as the founding patron in chief.