Naracoorte High School captain Zachary Pope (pictured) shone amongst his fellow finalists to claim the Lions Australia Districts C1 and C2 Youth of the Year state final.

Zach first won the Naracoorte Lions Club local event held in February which saw him progress to the Upper South East Regional Final, which was hosted by the Kingston Lions Club earlier this month.

From there, Zach continued his winning run to reach the C Districts final in Robe, which will lead to him competing in the national final to be held at Broadbeach, Queensland in May.

The Lions program is designed to foster, encourage and develop leadership skills in conjunction with other citizenship qualities amongst youth.

Naracoorte High School has embraced participation in the Lion’s Youth of the Year event over many years with Zach being the first student from the school to reach the national final.

Zach is currently studying Year 12 English, Biology, Chemistry and Maths Methods.

He is passionate about environmental sciences and delivered an outstanding commentary on the topic of fracking as his five minute prepared speech in the Districts Final.

Zach was required to submit an application, participate in an interview and perform two impromptu speeches at each level of the competition.