By Nusha Mirza and Syd Brandolino
Budding Writers
The 2021 Auckland Writers Festival was a truly phenomenal experience. With renowned authors like Angie Thomas, and Chloe Gong, we were truly an audience to excellence. With everyone at the edge of their seats, we all tried to absorb as much of their brilliance as we could.
Westlake Girls was lucky enough to have a front row seat to greatness. Even though half of the speakers were delivering their performances through zoom, it never felt like they were far from us. Furthermore, when poet Karlo Mila performed her poem on the Commonwealth, it would not be bold to say that every audience member was holding their breath. We were also able to ask questions about being published, writing, and the creative process.
As many of us are writers ourselves, it was certainly the kindling that will help to start the fire of inspiration for many of us.
Editor’s Note: 100 students from Westlake Girls attended the festival on 12 May.
The girls were shown around the campus and enjoyed a lunch at St Margaret’s College, one of the many student accommodation options at the University.
complimentary nutrients to fully utilise the energy. You want to consume sufficient to have good glycogen stores in the muscles, ready for release as required (you can store about 90 mins of glycogen) so for most athletes participating in school games they should have sufficient stores. If you do not feel hungry before a game try a drink of orange juice or some fruit, plan your eating times to fit around games to avoid running out of energy. 
A group of dedicated subject matter experts from Eke Panuku Development Auckland, Auckland Council and the Takapuna Beach Business Association recently attended a class at Westlake Girls to provide mentoring and support on community projects that the students are working on as part of their STEAM programme.
The mentoring team advised students on how to consider issues such as transport, waste, drought, stormwater, supporting local business, and homelessness when designing their projects.
On the Friday, the choir worked with guest clinician Elise Bradley (pictured above and right). Elise was previously HOD Music at Westlake Girls High School before becoming the Musical Director of the prestigious Toronto Children’s Chorus in Canada, where she has worked for the past 15 years.
The choir continued their hard work and fun into the next two days and enjoyed a Saturday night zoom session with Chris Bruerton from his home in the UK (pictured left).
THE IDEAL ROWER: We are looking for students in Years 9-12 who are highly competitive, willing to work hard and are motivated to achieve their best. While natural attributes such as being tall or having strong legs are certainly advantageous, they do not define a great rower. Rowing is far less about natural physical ability than it is about mental strength!
The APO’s Discovery Concert is an educational concert for Auckland secondary students and this year featured various orchestral masterpieces with connections to the cultural city of Vienna. As a finale, Cantare was invited to perform a modern work by Earl Maneein ‘The Brightest of All Possible Futures’ which aims to convey young people’s frustration and anger about climate change and war, before ending with a message of unity to create positive change.
