The winner of the first Spirit Award will be announced on May 18th.

A joint initiative of the North Melbourne Football Club and Spirit of Tasmania, the award encourages students across Victoria and Tasmania to strive for excellence in their schooling and community.

Jordan River Learning Federation’s Bridgewater Campus was the first school to assume the award amongst its Year 9 students, in hope of increasing retention rates amongst Year 10s.

Three finalists have been selected; Antonie Pearce, Jasmine Orr and Kerlinda-Lee Gallagher-Young.

For 14-year-old Pearce, the chance to win the award and $500 towards a school project, is an exciting prospect.

“We have really great values in our school,” Pearce wrote in his application.

Pearce hopes to make the school’s underpinning values of, ‘Connect, Aspire, Respect and Excel’ more profound amongst his community.

Orr’s application was peppered with humour, but her good intentions were nothing if not genuine.

“I like to be happy and help others be happy,” Oor wrote.

Gallagher-Young emphasized the importance of dance in her application.

“I think dance encourages inclusion in all areas,” she wrote.

“There are people moving in to our community from different areas of the world, I would love to invite them to share their own dances and also be part of our dances and greater community.”

Spirit of Tasmania CEO, Bernard Dwyer, says the interaction and enthusiasm towards the Spirit Award is encouraging.

“We pleased to be partnering with North Melbourne to help foster the development of community initiatives across Tasmania and Victoria,” Dwyer said.

“This work is a very important element of our overall partnership that is benefiting communities across the state. We are delighted to be able to provide a great opportunity for young Tasmanians through the Spirit Award.”