Angelina Trail of Ashburton is sad to be leaving the school she has attended since the age of five.
The 18-year-old, who was named Dux of Ashburton Christian School at its recent senior prizegiving, is among the school’s first crop of graduating year 13 students to have completed year 1 to 13 at the state-integrated school.
The Christian special character school today has a role of 279. It opened as a year 1 to 8 school in 2009, with a roll of just 27.
Trail said it had been ‘‘really special’’ to have such a long association with the school after beginning there as a new entrant. She had seen it grow with more pupils and new buildings.
‘‘I have seen how the school has changed, when I started we were very small. Growing up with the people I started with as well, we are all pretty close,’’ she said.
‘‘It will be quite sad leaving, I don’t think it’s really hit me yet, I think it will hit me next year.’’
Trail had also enjoyed being at a Christian school, believing the values of the school were reflected in the ‘‘genuine’’ natures of its students.
She said she was proud to have been named Dux, which had come as a surprise.
‘‘I thought maybe this year I hadn’t done as well as the other years.’’
Alongside winning Dux, Trail claimed other awards including Excellence in English, Statistics and Spanish.
She has been accepted into Ara’s New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch to study screen production.
She plans to work in the film industry, perhaps in post production, screen writing, or ‘‘anything behind the scenes’’.
