Lexie will spend three weeks in Turkey, including Anzac Day. <\/p>\n
To apply, students had to be descendants of someone who served in the Gallipoli campaign. <\/p>\n
They then completed a research project linking their ancestors\u2019 experiences to their own lives. <\/p>\n
Lexie discovered her great-great-great-grandmother Ellen Knight – Herbert, George and Douglas\u2019s mother – had kept all their letters in a box. <\/p>\n
From left: Herbert, George and Douglas Knight. Photo \/ Supplied.<\/p>\n
She immersed herself in the project, finding it deeply personal. <\/p>\n
Much of her time outside school was spent gathering stories from five generations of family members. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been reading about World War I since I was 4 years old.\u201d <\/p>\n
One of Lexie\u2019s favourite books is 1915: Wounds of War by Diana Menefy, which tells the story of the New Zealand hospital ship, Maheno, at Gallipoli. <\/p>\n
Discovering George served on the same ship made familiar stories feel closer. <\/p>\n
As she prepared for her trip, Lexie admitted she was nervous, having never been away from home. <\/p>\n
At the same time, she was excited to experience a new culture. <\/p>\n
She hoped the trip would allow her to visit Herbert\u2019s grave, who died in the second battle of Krithia at Cape Helles, Gallipoli. <\/p>\n
Lexie said she saw the trip as an important way to learn about the war outside of a classroom. <\/p>\n
Lexie found it special to find out how much of their lives was still relatable today. <\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge, he really loved books, and he was a librarian and stuff, and that\u2019s exactly like me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Award recipient Lexie Knight will spend three weeks in Turkey over Anzac Day. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Her mother, Beth Knight, said she was immensely proud. <\/p>\n
Lexie\u2019s family encouraged her to pursue the opportunity. <\/p>\n
Since then, they had watched her throw herself into the undertaking, even learning Turkish. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you could embrace it any more than she has.\u201d <\/p>\n
AFS Intercultural Programs marketing manager Linda Rotaeche said the organisation\u2019s mission had stayed the same since its\u2019 founding in 1947. <\/p>\n
It was established by former World War II volunteer ambulance drivers who wanted to continue promoting peace across nations. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is very simple. The more we know each other, the more we understand each other, the less likely we are to go to war with each other.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said the mission felt especially relevant today. <\/p>\n
\u201cPromoting peace is still as important as ever, if not more important.\u201d <\/p>\n
The upcoming exchange will take students through Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Canakkale, staying with volunteer host families. <\/p>\n
They will visit historic sites and take part in community events. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust see a little bit of the everyday rather than just the tourist highlights.\u201d <\/p>\n
On April 25, they will visit Anzac Cove and attend the New Zealand Anzac service. <\/p>\n
Rotaeche, who completed her own exchange 30 years ago, said the experience stayed with you. <\/p>\n
She said students returned more mature, resilient and confident – qualities that could not be taught in a classroom. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt really does define you because you learn so much, not just about another country and culture, but also about yourself.\u201d <\/p>\n
AFS planned to continue the Gallipoli Award and offered a wide range of other scholarships for its exchange programs. <\/p>\n
In the past three years, the organisation has awarded more than $430,000 in scholarships. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lexie will spend three weeks in Turkey, including Anzac Day. To apply, students had to be descendants of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,2346,55234,32255,190922,33443,1861,78719,190923,111,43,139,69,9631,4758,1227,61,5858,190924,18457,1079],"class_list":{"0":"post-363034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-award","10":"tag-dedication","11":"tag-familys","12":"tag-gallipoli","13":"tag-heading","14":"tag-history","15":"tag-knights","16":"tag-lexie","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nz","21":"tag-student","22":"tag-taking","23":"tag-tauranga","24":"tag-to","25":"tag-turkey","26":"tag-uncovering","27":"tag-winning","28":"tag-youth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}