Walkington winner all set to kick goals

The winner of this year’s Walkington Award says the prize will be a big help when he moves to the US to begin his tertiary studies on a soccer scholarship next year.

St Luke’s College head boy Richard Shaw, 18, took home the City of Karratha’s education prize. at a ceremony at council chambers last Monday.

Each year the award acknowledges a Year 12 student in the City who excels in the “three pillars” of academics, extra-curricular activities and community service and grants them $5000 to help cover tertiary study costs.

A talented soccer player, Richard plans to complete his undergraduate studies in the US, possibly at Iowa’s William Penn University, after winning a US soccer scholarship earlier this year.

Afterwards he plans to return to Australia and study postgraduate law/commerce at Curtin University or the University of WA, with the aim of starting a law firm with his sister who is also studying law.

“I’ll be moving away from home and living by myself, and the fees for accommodation at university are already quite a bit, so getting this is going to help me out so much,” he said.

“It will especially help me to get settled in to America.”

Richard said he was humbled to win the award.

The City received 13 entries for the Walkington this year after tightening up the eligibility criteria to only include Year 12 students based in Karratha.

City Mayor Peter Long said the award gave local students a helping hand to pursue their studies and career goals beyond high school.

“I am always proud to see the hard work our young people put into their education and the ways they generously give back to our community,” he said.

The award is named after Al Walkington, the founding director of the Pilbara Institute/Karratha College (now North Regional TAFE), and has been awarded in town for 34 years.