Doing Good Together
Recently the students at our school have shown outstanding and selfless leadership. Concerned for the suffering experienced by a number of our school whanau and community members who lost homes and possessions in Cyclone Gabrielle, some of our students decided to take direct action to help. As I mentioned briefly in the last edition, our student leadership team organised a non-uniform day at school to raise money for our affected Muriwai families. Students at school were allowed to wear non-uniform for a day and donate a gold coin in return. This initiative raised enough money to provide our affected Muriwai families with a Prezzy card each which they could use to buy themselves something they needed or wanted. Student leader reflections on this day included feeling proud of their efforts and proud of their peers for getting involved and supporting a really worthy, relatable and authentic cause.
Another initiative to raise money to support our cyclone affected community was led by James Shaw, a Year 13 student. He and his team of supporters wanted to find a way to support the Muriwai Volunteer Fire Brigade. Combining Easter as the timely theme and his enthusiasm for chicken raising, James and his team organised a “Chick Cafe”. This involved a group of students baking delicious and wholesome slices to sell along with an
opportunity for students to “pat and hold a chick” for a gold coin donation. This was a resounding success, so much so that James repeated it the following week. Once again our students and staff donated generously. There were many very happy students around the school on those days, who were asking for regular repeats of the opportunity for “chick patting” claiming it put them in a great head space for learning!
Congratulations to all the students involved in organising and running these events at school. You have made your school and your community a better place through your actions.