Schols for Mahinda College shining teen stars

SCHOLS: Allen and Sirisena Weerasinghe Memorial Scholarships were awarded to students of Mahinda College, Galle. This scholarship was awarded to A/L students of less privileged families to continue their Advanced Level studies. Dr. Saman Weerasinghe awarded the scholarships, in memory of his parents.

The event was organised by Mahinda Club and OBA, Mahinda College. Each student will be awarded Rs. 1,500

 every month until they complete their A/Ls. The students who obtained the highest aggregates at in 2006 O/Ls and those who excel in extra curricular activities were awarded the scholarships.

The selections were also based on their talents and achievements. The aim of the scholarship was to remove the barriers of economic and financial difficulties that restrain them from achieving good results.

Wenura Madushanka is the secretary of the Sinhala Literary Committee. He has won several places in competitions. He plays volleyball and is a talented dancer. He has participated in inter school singing and dancing competitions in the Southern Province and won first place in his item. He has a younger brother who is one year old.

Chamindu Punchihewa is in grade 12 and is in the Bio Science stream. His father who is a farmer is suffering from a kidney disease. He has one brother and is the leader of the general knowledge team of his school. He participated in a quiz organised by Ananda College, Colombo and won first place. He has won many prizes participating in quizzes.

He is also the head of the schools Environmental Association.

Isuru Maduranga is a scout who has exhibited his talents many times. He has won several awards. He plays football in school and won the championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006. His hobbies are collecting stamps and learning IT.

Tharindu de Silva is the youngest of the family. He passed the O/Ls with nine As and one C. He is the Secretary of the Journalists' Association and is the President of the Sinhala Drama Club and a member of the English Drama Club. His interests are compering, taking part in speech competitions and dancing.

Thilina Malshan was placed the 15th in the district rate and obtained the best results in school. He shows special talents in computer studies and English. He has a sister who studies in grade six. He follows A/Ls in Bio Science stream.

Suranga Vitharana is a basketball player. He has won many tournaments. He is also a good singer and talented in playing the saxophone. He has two elder sisters in the family. Sashan Kanishka's father is a carpenter. He has three sisters. He obtained eight As and two Bs at O/Ls and is presently in the Bio Science class of grade 12.

Kushan Sameera is another talented teen. He plays cricket and is involved in the Journalists' Association, English Drama Club and Sinhala Drama Club. He also plays football. He likes riding his bicycle and reading books.

Baladeva Dharmarathne is the deputy head prefect in his school. He plays volleyball and has won several tournaments. He is also a football player and an athlete. He enjoys reading research books on Maths and Science. He is keen on new inventions of world and collects details about them.

Deshan Eranga is also a talented teen who is involved in extra curricular activities in school. He is talented in dancing, singing and has taken part in competitions.

Asith Imantha is in the New Inventions Society. He has invented many items and displayed them in school exhibitions. He is also a good swimmer and has taken part in essay competitions.

Pasindu Nuwan passed the scholarship in grade five. He passed O/Ls with eight As, one B and one C. He is one of the best athletes in school and won several places at national sports festivals. His hobby is reading books.

Pradeep Sandaruwan has two brothers. He is in the Mihindu Photographic Guild, Adventure Club. He is talented in photography and computer operating. He passed the O/Ls with four As and six Bs.

Prasad Nanayakkara is a member of the dancing troupe. He is also in the eastern band. He has a younger brother who studies in grade eight.

Anuruddha Charith is in the commerce stream. His hobbies are reading books and newspapers. He loves computer studies.

Yasiru Munasinghe is talented in video creations. He plays several musical instruments. His other interests are computer studies. He has a brother. Yasiru is in grade 12 arts.

Kavinda Gamage is an expert in computer graphic animation. He is also a multimedia presenter. He is very creative and takes part in media activities in school. He also loves music.

Ranjindu Pemarathne is an athlete. He has participated in long jump and athletics and has won several places. He has been an active member in many associations and has participated in English speech competitions and dramas.

Chaminda Pushpakumara comes from Agulugaha Daduwatha. He is well trained on first aid and actively participates in every function in school.

Nipun Udara is a prefect. His hobbies are reading books and magazines. He has gone places sitting local and international exams. Presently he studies in grade 12 physics class. He is also a scout and loves sports.

Daily News Teen congratulates these hardworking and talented teens and wish all the very best to pass the A/L exam with flying colours.

Calling all scrabble fans

SCRABBLE: The Sri Lanka Scrabble League, the governing body of Scrabble in Sri Lanka, founded in 1989, will be conducting the 15th version of the All Island Scrabble Tournament tomorrow and September 15.

The Sri Lanka Scrabble League has been represented at many international Scrabble tournaments including the World Scrabble Championships and the World Youth Scrabble Championships.

It also holds three other major tournaments throughout a calendar year (Premier Players' tournament and the Scrabbler of the Year which are both only open to members of the SLSL, and the Open All Island Scrabble Tournament held under three age categories which is open to all)

The tournament will be held under a new format with the introduction of an individual tournament Schools' Scrabbler of the Year (SSOY) and a division based team event (held under two divisions - A and B), the former being sponsored by Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation and the latter by BRAND'S Essence of Chicken.

The SSOY will be a tournament open to two players from each Division A school and one player from each Division B school. The highest ranked player at the SSOY under 17 years will be awarded a place at the tournament to be held on a future date to select representatives for the World Youth Scrabble Championships to be held in Malaysia in December.

The top 16 schools from last years' tournament are classified as Division A and all other schools will be classified in Division B.

The SSOY will be held at the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Centre, Deans Road, Town Hall (opposite Eye Hospital) tomorrow while the Divisional tournament will be held at the Royal College Main Hall on September 15.

Entries will be accepted until 5.00 p.m. today and no entries will be accepted on the day of the tournament.

Young leaders' gathering promotes partnership

Brett Thompson

UNITED: "It's just a mosquito! You have mosquitoes in Sri Lanka," said Malcolm Cecil-Cockwell, standing by

 the shore of Buck Lake at the Limberlost Nature and Wildlife Reserve northeast of Huntsville.

"Sri Lankan mosquitoes are much gentler when they bite you," retort Gasthini Sivayoganathan, a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

"That may be true but our mosquitoes don't give you malaria," said Cecil-Cockwell. "Well, I've lived in Sri Lanka my entire life and have never had malaria," said Sivayoganathan.

It was exactly the sort of spontaneous cultural exchange Cecil-Cockwell had been hoping would happen when 16 people aged 15 to 24 from around the world gathered in the wilds of Muskoka for a week-long retreat.

It was the first initiative of International Partnerships through Education and Collaboration (IPEC), a youth-driven group founded late last year by the freshman at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.

Limberlost is familiar territory for the philosophy, history of math and science major. His family helps manage the reserve and the Toronto native has spent summers tending to trails and cabins for as long as he can remember.

Some might say dealing with such topics as imperialism and religion is a rather heavy endeavour for a Muskoka retreat, but Cecil-Cockwell said he can spend only so much unstructured time in a canoe.

"My family has always been into working holidays," he said. "Change is as good as a rest."

Throughout his school years, he's taken active roles in clubs and councils, but the 19-year-old student leader wasn't looking to run a typical leadership conference. He's travelled far and wide with his family and on his own, working in Zambia with Habitat for Humanity and studying in China. He thought it was time for an international experience on his own turf.

"I wanted there to be a balance of education and fun," he said. "Bringing young people together from a wide range of backgrounds to share and grow and explore our commonalities and differences was always my main goal."

He established the group through funding from an American philanthropic grant supporting projects for peace. Within weeks of commencing studies in Maryland last fall, Cecil-Cockwell helped get an environmental awareness group off the ground, and his initial idea was to organise a retreat centred on global warming - peace and cultural exchange soon took over.

He secured the funding and partnered with another non-governmental organisation (NGO) One World Youth, founded in 2004 by 18-year-old Jessica Rimington. Rimington, a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has addressed the United Nations on youth-based peace initiatives, and members of One World Youth, which promotes cross-continental exchange through a sister school program, made up the bulk of the Limberlost crew.

"These are some of the brightest people I think I've ever met," said Cecil-Cockwell. "I'm just blown away by them. We have a 24-year-old from Mexico who runs his own environmental NGO, and two 15-year-old young women from Sri Lanka who are insightful way beyond their years."

The retreat featured workshops on fundraising, recruiting volunteers and searching out funding. Monday, their last day at the retreat, the crew expected to be working on trails, borrowing the "sweat equity" model from Habitat for Humanity.

"We're focusing a lot on developing contacts," says Cecil-Cockwell. "Most of these people are not from countries where a teenager can simply call or e-mail experts and ask them for advice on fundraising and starting an NGO."

The students came from India, Mexico, the U.S. and Sri Lanka, with airfare, room and board covered by the grant.

"Just two days ago, everyone was closed up," says Cecil-Cockwell. "The Sri Lankans sat together, the Indians sat together, but in just a short time, everyone was communicating."

In addition to readings from literary classics and modern experts on international affairs, classic religious texts were also among their extensive readings and discussion topics. Buddhists, Christians and Muslims all made up the student group, and grace was said in a different language each night.

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Hasaru: Scouting takes him to the top

Hasaru Rajapaske of D. S. Senanayake College became a Cub Scout in 1997. He started scouting by joining the 60th Colombo Cub Scout troop.

He participated in almost every camp organised by D. S. Senanayake College and received the proficiency badge. After receiving the link badge, he became a junior scout. He has participated in all the camporees.

He has also travelled to Thailand to participate in the 20th World Scout Jamboree in 2003 and gained experience from Rajan's Millennium Jamboree in 2000 in Kandy. He has participated in the sixth National Jamboree in Balapitiya, seventh National Jamboree and the fourth SAF friendship camp in Nuwara-eliya.

Hasaru's dedication and interest in scouting brought him a lot of success. He was appointed as the assistant patrol leader and later as the patrol leader. He held the responsibilities as the troop leader and has organised several camps.

An unforgettable experience of his life is participating in the exploration camp at Horton Plains. Spending the night in tents and climbing the Kirigalpoththa mountain has enriched his life.

Hasaru has exhibited his talents as a senior scout and won several medals.

He added that scouting has improved his personality.

He has received the President's award. While participating in scouts and bringing glory to school, Hasaru also takes part in other activities in school.

Daily News Teen wishes this talented teen all the success in future endeavours.