Michael Whittaker - Havelock North High School
CEO and President of the Atlantis Group. 2001
Favourite subjects: Geography, Economics and Biology
Best Memories about HNHS: It was a time of my life where I was given a fair amount of independence but with support there if needed.
Business History: Started first business in year 10 propagating plants, in Year 12 travelled to Asia and started importing ceramic ware. Paid his way through university by profits from “up-market” ice cream. Moved onto the hospitality business and then in 1996 started The Atlantis Group. Was awarded NZ Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001. The Atlantis group operates in 14 countries and has over 200 employees.
Greg Murphy - Havelock North High School
Racing car driver and CEO of Greg Murphy Racing - Four times winner at Bathurst
Favourite Subjects: PE and Physics
Best memories of HNHS: We were a tight knit bunch, it was HNHS against all the other schools in Hawkes Bay. There were so many opportunities at school.
Business Stuff- up : Too many to mention, with hindsight
Business History: Started Greg Murphy Racing in 1996. Moved to Australia in 2000 , to take advantage of opportunities there. I am passionate about racing.
Inducted in 2006, after speaking to the school. Greg was the first inductee to visit the site of the Hall of Fame and decided where his board should hang.
Jessica McDermott - Havelock North High School
Owner of M>phosis Hair Studio. National finalist in hairstyling awards in 2008 and 2009. Hastings Business Awards - Overall Winner in 2006 and category winner in 2008 and 2009.
Favourite subjects: Drama
Jessica has always had a passion for hairdressing. As soon as she left school she trained as a hairdresser and in 2003 opened M>phosis Hair Studio.
Since opening, the salon has gone from strength to strength. The salon won the 2006 Hastings Business Awards (overall winner), in 2008 they were the category winners in the same awards and in 2008 and 2009, national finalists in hairstyling awards. In 2009 Jessica was selected as one of a few salon owners to represent Wella.
Staff at M>phosis regularly donate their skills to charitable occasions.
Dr Kim Chilman – Blair Havelock North High School
Kim Chilman-Blair is the Founder of Medikidz Ltd, the company which has led to the birth of the Medikidz Foundation.
Pupil 1989 – 1993
Favourite Subjects: Physics and Calculus
Kim became a doctor after a hard struggle to get into medical school. She specialised in paediatrics and saw the need for children’s literature to explain their illness to them. This led to the creation of Medikidz.
Medikidz is a series of cartoon super-heroes who explain serious diseases and illness to children, in ways they can understand. Medikidz is in 7 countries at the moment with many more launches on the horizon. Some of the profits are used to give Medikidz books to children in the poorest countries of the world. William Trubridge - Havelock North High School
William Trubridge is a world champion and double world record holding free diver from New Zealand.
Trubridge currently holds the world record in the Free Immersion and the Constant Weight without fins discipline, and is the first human ever to break the 100m barrier unassisted. On 18 January 2011, Trubridge won the World's Absolute Freediver Award (WAFA) naming him best all around freediver.
Attended HNHS:1993 – 1997.
Best memory of HNHS:
Being supported by a home crowd at debating matches with other schools was pretty memorable. We came close to the national finals, and a lot of friends rallied to support us in the audience, which was a great feeling. Conquering on-stage nerves in debating and acting helped me for a career as a freediver, where I have to dive in front of spectators and cameras, but I also have to keep calm and ensure that my heart rate doesn't go up, which would use more oxygen.
Favorite subjects:
I enjoyed them all, at different times and in different ways. The teacher makes a lot of difference, and I was lucky to have an incredible group of passionate gurus during my stay at HNHS.
After leaving School:
I completed a BSc (majoring in genetics) at Auckland University between '98 and 2000. While I was there I became involved in theatre, acting in the university productions of "Summer Shakespeare" and later producing the same shows and working as president of the University Theatre society, 'Stage Two Productions.' I also rowed for an Auckland club, competing in single and double sculls.
Currently doing:
I am lucky enough to be able to live most of the year in the Bahamas, where the conditions are perfect for freediving, and we have a 200-meter deep blue hole nestled in the corner of a protected lagoon. The rest of the year I travel with my wife, Brittany, who is a yoga instructor, teaching courses in Europe and Dubai.
Advice for HNHS Students:
To succeed at school you apply yourself to studies, sports and cultural activities. However what you're actually learning runs far deeper than any of these pursuits - they are vehicles used to transmit more broad and enduring qualities of persistence, self-discipline, communication, humility, optimism...
So give yourself to everything you do, from being attentive in class to diligent on the sports field or at music practice, and when you are older you will realise that your success was due to traits that evolved in your teenage years while you were concentrating on something else.
Special quotes to live by:
In sports and business, words are words, explanations are explanations, goals are goals, but only performance is reality
Tama tu tama ore
Tama moe tama mate
(He who stands lives
He who sleeps dies)
Rebecca Bruce – Havelock North High School
Registered Nurse (BN, DipTN)
Attended Havelock North High School 1991-1995
Memories of HNHS: I particularly enjoyed the extra-curricular activities such as inter-house competitions and school camps where there was a focus on teamwork, organisation and leadership skills; all of which have set me in good stead in my career.
Favourite Subjects: The subjects that I most enjoyed the most were either those that sparked an interest for me or where the teacher brought out the best of my ability. Mathematics had never been a particular strong point for me but in the 4th form I had a teacher that really helped me to excel. Miss Miller was primarily a PE teacher but she spoke my language and all of a sudden I was getting 90%. Mr Dunningham excited my artistic ability and I was lucky to have Mr Ligget for English in my last two years of HNHS as he helped build my confidence with public speaking which is a skill that has been invaluable in my career.
After leaving School: I attended Victoria University for one year before deciding my real passion lay in nursing. I then completed my Bachelor of Nursing in Wellington. In 2007 I completed my Diploma of Tropical Nursing, spurred on by a previous travelling experience in Africa which ignited a passion to return in a medical context. I travelled to Uganda where I lived and worked with local people and worked closely with a local nurse to ensure sustainability of the clinic. I spread my time between the school clinic and working on medical health projects within the orphanages situated in the villages of Suubi and Bbira outside of Kampala. One of the most eye opening experiences was travelling to the remote war-torn area of Gulu to provide medical care. We developed makeshift clinics and provided health screening, STI/HIV testing and other medical services to children that had been abducted and used as child soldiers. On my return to UK I put together a few fund raising events to help make a difference for a few of the families that I had met in Uganda. Last year I travelled back there to visit the people that I had made such close bonds with and was proud to see that much of my work was still being carried on.
Currently: I came back to NZ in 2009 and am currently co-ordinating in the Acute Oncology Day unit at Auckland DHB where I manage a nursing team and work closely with our Medical team providing facilities for acute oncology admissions.
