The John Lockhart Trophy was awarded on Sunday at the opening of the Haddington Festival. The criteria is achievement against the odds.
The winner was Neil Howie, who was nominated by Mr Lambert. Certificates were given to Calum Baillie, Ashleigh Lawson and Adam Linton-Main.
Each of their individual nominations can be viewed below. Congratulations to all.
Neil Howie
Proposed by Mr Lambert
Neil has cerebral palsy affecting the left side of his body. Although fiercely competitive, Neil is also very confident and comfortable with his disability. Through his involvement in the Disability Activity Programme at primary school, Neil developed an interest in swimming although was unsure whether or not he was capable of swimming at club level. A move to high school, combined with his selection for the Scottish Disability Sport swimming squad gave Neil the confidence to also attend a swimming club, and he combines training for both with competing at disability events all over the country as well as against able bodied athletes at club level. Through this, Neil was quickly identified as an athlete of the quality required for East Lothian's Performance Athletes in School (PAiS) programme, and the intense workload of additional training is obviously paying off as Neil is setting new personal bests regularly in a multitude of swimming events, taking nearly 45 seconds off his personal best in the 100m breaststroke and 100m front crawl in just over a year. Neil recently took part in the British championships in the new Olympic Park swimming pool, and has won medals in events all over the UK. Through his determination and competitive attitude, I am confident Neil will continue winning medals and improve further as he matures into adulthood and becomes a top class swimmer.
Personal Bests
50m Breaststroke - 56.86s
50m Front Crawl - 40.81s
50m Backstroke - 51..81
100m Breaststroke - 1m 56.33s
100m Front Crawl - 1m 27.15s
100m Medley - 1m 46.12s
200m Medley - 3m 43.28s
Calum Baillie
Proposed by Ms Easson
Calum has Asperger's Syndrome and as such has difficulties in communicating. This difficulty becomes more apparent during the teenage years when it can be difficult to fit in. Calum's work on East Coast FM has allowed him to develop his own skills in communicating but he also provides a service for other young people. He broadcasts about school issues, disseminating information and playing music on "Baillsie's School Bell". He has added another show to his repertoire - Calum's Chaos on a Saturday morning.
His producer has praised Calum's ability to broadcast and to interview and edit pieces of recorded audio. Calum has taken it upon himself to interview important local people and he attended the Science and book festivals where he gathered news stories and put together interesting pieces for his show. As well as building on his own skills, Calum has encouraged other pupils to come along and share the mike and in doing so he is training up another generation of future broadcasters. For a boy with difficulties in communicating he is reaching out to many people in the community.
Ashleigh Lawson
Proposed by Miss Little
I would like to nominate Ashleigh Lawson for the John Lockhart Trophy. When Ashleigh joined us at Knox Academy she was a very shy quiet girl with little self-esteem. We started a Sports group which Ashleigh joined. During the past 2 years she has tried many new sports and found that Athletics is her forte. She was picked to join a team from the Lothians to go to Stirling to the Scottish Athletics Championships where they won the Shield and a medal. This gave Ashleigh such a confidence boost and has helped her in many ways, for example, in music while working with Ashleigh, at first she would have a go on the drums and quickly say “I can’t do this” and put down the drum sticks but now she will stick at the task until she masters it, never giving up. We have noticed a huge change in her ability to work in classes and to be able to voice her concerns.
Her other great success has come from Trampolining. She joined the school club and has been to Dundee to take part in the British Trampoline Qualifiers where she came fourth in her class, which is excellent for a first competition.
When I look back to the girl who started in the big school to how she is now I can see a much happier and more contented child in Ashleigh. She is more willing to take part in new activities and is very caring and helpful towards her friends and peers.
Adam Linton Main
Proposed by Mr Lambert
Adam has cerebral palsy affecting his left side. Adam has never let this stop him from doing anything, to the extent that many people are unaware that Adam even suffers from cerebral palsy. As well as taking part in curriculum PE classes, Adam was also heavily involved in the Disability Activity Programme throughout primary school. Since arriving at Knox Academy, Adam has represented the school in many events including badminton and orienteering. About the same time he moved up to Knox from primary, Adam began swimming and was quickly identified by Scottish Disability Sport as having the potential to compete at a high level. Since then his progress has been rapid, and he was setting new personal bests as recently as last week, when he competed in the British championships in the brand new Olympic pool in London. Adam has taken part in several events all over Britain, regularly picking up medals in his class. Adam was awarded a place in East Lothian's Performance Athletes in Schools (PAiS) programme last year meaning he combines his busy competition schedule with many additional hours of training and conditioning work every week. Through this combination of hard work and his positive attitude, I am sure Adam will continue his rapid progress and set new personal bests on his way to winning many more medals in the future.
Personal Bests
50m Front Crawl - 41.05s
50m Backstroke - 56.00s
100m Front Crawl - 2m 8.50s
100m Front Crawl - 6m 42.38s
