The B. F. Connell Prize for Dux: S. B. Zhang
The B. F. Connell Prize for Dux of the School (2024) is awarded to Stanley Zhang.
Stanley has been in the A stream since Term 2 of Form 3, and he has consistently been a diligent and committed student. He has demonstrated exceptional abilities in his chosen subjects. He has maintained straight As for Attitude and Effort in every subject in every end-of-year report, and his year’s aggregate has placed him in the top half of the class throughout his time at Auckland Grammar School.
In Form 6, Stanley scored 85 in Cambridge AS Level English, 95 in AS French, 95 in AS Chemistry, and 96 in AS Biology. He also scored 94 in A Level Mathematics. Stanley was also awarded NZQA Scholarships for French, Biology and Statistics in Form 6.
Stanley’s academic record in Form 7 is superb. Head of French, Mr Bidet, notes that he has become fully bilingual during his time at Grammar. He received a Cambridge High Achievement award at the Outstanding Learner Awards for 2023, and in June this year he scored 94 in A Level French.
In his final set of School examinations, Stanley placed first in all of his classes, scoring 92 in French, 93 in Biology, 96 in Physics and 97 in Chemistry, giving him an overall aggregate for the year of 376.1/400. This year, he is also awarded the Peter Drummond Prize for French, the O’Sullivan Prize for Biology and the Ben Gould Prize for Chemistry.
Outside the classroom, Stanley has been widely involved in the extracurricular life of the School. This year he has been a member of Asian Cultural Tutoring, Amnesty International Committee, Chronicle Committee, Debating Advanced Open 3, Headmaster’s Welfare Committee, Mathex Mentors, MUNA, the Premier Concert Band, Students Against Dangerous Driving Group, and the School’s Proceres Grammatici group for premier scholars.
He competed in the international Brain Bee competition, where he placed first in New Zealand/Australia in 2022 and second in the world in 2023.
Stanley embodies the School’s value of excellence, always seeking to perform at the highest possible standards. His contributions to the school community are marked by his humility and integrity. Despite his numerous accomplishments, he remains grounded and respectful. His teachers describe him as an erudite student who possesses a strong ability to understand and analyse complex topics. His contributions in class are invariably relevant and thoughtful, and his critical thinking skills are a testament to his maturity.
Next year, Stanley plans to study medicine through the Bachelor of Biomedical Science pathway at the University of Auckland.