Published in WelCom June/July 2021

The Year of St Joseph

In this special year of St Joseph, it is fitting Hato Hōhepa – St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College, Napier, have won the prestigious O’Shea Shield and for the first time in 46 years.

Second place was shared equally by three colleges: St John’s College, Hastings; Sacred Heart Girls’ College, New Plymouth; and St Patrick’s College, Wellington.

Year 13 St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ student Te Waimarie Callaghan, 17, won Te Kaipanui I ngā Karaipiture o te Reo Māori section for scripture reading. She said it was a significant result overall for her kura.

‘Aue – we are honestly lost for words but we’re so overjoyed about the whole thing’ she says.

Also receiving individual cups were Lileigh-Rae Coffi for the English section for scripture reading, while Silve Alo, Horiana Smallman and Holley Carlson were winners in debates.

‘We’re so lucky to bring the shield back to our Hato Hōhepa School and our wider community,’ Callaghan says.

This year’s event was jointly hosted by Chanel College and Bishop Viard College in Porirua over the weekend of 15–17 May.

St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College will host the O’Shea Shield competition in 2022.

O’Shea Shield 2021 – a close contest

In a close contest, St Joseph Māori Girls’ College, Napier, have won prestigious Catholic debating contest, the O’Shea Shield for 2021.

The standard this year was high in all categories in the closely-run competition. The total results showed just one point separating the first and second places.

Second place was shared equally by three colleges: St John’s Hastings; Sacred Heart New Plymouth; and St Patrick’s College, Wellington.

The shield is awarded annually to the winner of the speech competition among the 17 Catholic secondary schools in the Wellington and Palmerston North dioceses. The competition has been run for 70 years.

The 17 colleges enter their contestants in six categories: junior, senior, impromptu and prepared, oratory; debating; religious questions; drama; and scripture reading (reo section and English section). The 2021 competition title was: ‘Life creates history – so that you can tell your children and grandchildren’.

The annual debating contest is named after and dedicated to the memory of Wellington Archbishop Thomas O’Shea (1870–1954), a talented educator and role model for young Catholics.

The 2021 event was jointly hosted by Chanel College and Bishop Viard College in Porirua over the weekend of 14–16 May.

St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College will host the O’Shea Shield competition in 2022.

The post O’Shea Shield 2021 first appeared on Archdiocese of Wellington.