A Flowering Career – NZ Junior Apprenticeship Won by NZMA Student

3 December 2018 – NZMA graduate, Lynette Ann Burroughs has been crowned the New Zealand Junior Apprentice of the Year for floristry, as part of the New Zealand Flower and Garden show. For a second year, the annual national flower show took place in Auckland and proved to be extremely popular.

Competing against 12 other apprentice florists from around New Zealand, Lynette’s talents prevailed under extreme pressure. Entrants were judged on a range of tasks which included timed activities, creating and setting up displays, sponsorship materials and surprise tasks.

NZMA floristry tutor Karen McNaughton said, “I’m so proud of Lynette. I’m thrilled to see her progress from when she first started the course through to today. I could see Lynette’s potential in all the design tasks, being very open with ideas, always willing to help, and very confident and caring person. This will show other students, that with a little hard work, this is what you can achieve in such a small amount of time. But you have to work at it, it doesn’t just happen overnight, and you can’t skip steps.”

Lynette said, “To compete at this industry specific competition has been an intense eight days. It was a privilege to work alongside other Florist Apprentices, both junior and senior, from all over New Zealand. It’s been a unique opportunity to share and learn new ideas. Not forgetting, making life- long friends. The skills I learned through NZMA; in particular, design elements and principles, including attention to detail in mechanics and professional presentation, all contributed to a successful competition for me.”