St Margaret’s College congratulates all seven winners of the GirlBoss Canterbury Awards 2026, including St Margaret’s student Lexie Boon, winner of the Sport Award, and Emma Miller, winner of the Community Award sponsored by St Margaret’s.
St Margaret’s has been supporting the Canterbury GirlBoss Awards for the past four years. The GirlBoss mission to empower the next generation of female leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand aligns closely with the College’s long-standing commitment to empower girls to learn, live and lead.
Emma was named winner of the Community Award, having created a powerful resource to help young people who suffer from panic attacks. Emma drew on her experiences of supporting a close friend to hand-write, illustrate and hand-bind booklets designed to provide comfort, understanding and guidance during moments of intense distress. It has been described by one of Emma’s peers as the single most useful resource they have received to support them during a panic attack. The booklet combines grounding techniques and coping strategies that Emma has found meaningful herself, and draws on Emma’s creativity in poetry, acting, and the visual arts.
Lexie, winner of the Sport Award supported by Sport Canterbury, is an International Baccalaureate Diploma student at St Margaret’s, and a role model for neurodivergent girls in education and elite sport. Lexie has represented Canterbury in indoor and outdoor cricket, basketball, and rhythmic gymnastics, while achieving academic honours and advocating for neurodivergent students and their parents. Lexie will shortly travel to South Africa as part of the Under-18 New Zealand Women’s cricket team, and is one of the youngest ever players to be named in the Under-22 Indoor Cricket All Star Tournament Team.
The award ceremony also celebrated the memory of Annabell Young, Community Award winner 2024, who died in April. Annabell was an advocate for young people with chronic health conditions, as Youth Representative of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes New Zealand Committee, and as creator of The Garden of Glamour, a virtual ball for students unable to attend their high school formal due to ill health. Katelyn, Annabell’s sister, attended with her mother, Tracy, and father, Craig, and spoke about Annabell and all she accomplished in her short life for the benefit of others. Annabel’s memory continues to inspire the GirlBoss community.
Congratulations to all the Canterbury GirlBosses for creating positive change in their communities.
