The blog didn't get added to throughout this year- however, as I still have much of the work done and plenty of photos of what the class got up to in 2023 - here is the long overdue update:
2023 in Room 10:
A great class - 32 students, 19 boys and 13 girls...
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The first weeks at school were all about getting to know each other - Ko Au was our theme, first up the Year 7's added their pepeha to our class display.
Knowing who we are and where we come from is important:
The Year 8's were set the task of finding out what happened on the date they were born:
for the Year 7's Canva was used to create posters:
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and finally Room 10 - Ruma Tekau posters created:
NZ Census day and Room 10 took part in the
National Census at School - lots of questions to answer ( like: what’s your
favourite ice-cream flavour and how many hours did you spend watching a screen
yesterday)
Lots of measuring to do for it too - here are a few
pics from the How far can you jump doing a two-foot standing jump question!
The EPro 8 challenge for our Whare, four Room 10 teams
took part . It was all made possible by our Technology teacher Miss Stephenson.
Some great teamwork from all who took part in some very challenging activities.
Preston, Corey, Jacob, and Alex emerged as the winners and then they competed in the school finals and then went on to EPro 8 in Taupo and … made it through to the next stage, the Waikato - Bay Of Plenty Semi-Finals.
My Birthday
On my 7th birthday I was laying on my bed like a lazy potato, in my room watching a movie and then my door slams open and my brother comes in and says' ‘sup here's $20 dollars happy birthday’.
I said thank you with a big smile on my face, I felt happy I was rich, then I added it to my coin jar and went back to watching my movie. He walked back into the shed.
20 minutes later my door flew open again It's my brother and he asked ‘‘can I use that $20 dollars to buy you and Dad some food?’’.
I was a bit hesitant, but I gave him the money. I found out later that evening that he brought some beers with that money. I knew that because I went to the kitchen and saw nothing in the cupboards. I was hungry but there was nothing to eat but the whole beer fridge was full and our cupboards had nothing in them!.
I keep on asking him for my $20 bucks back but he always says ‘’didn’t I buy you some food?!’.
It's been about five years since that incident but I'm not going to give up so i'm going to say at his wedding [in October] in front of all the guests;
‘On my 7th birthday my brother gave me $20 bucks, and 20 minutes later he took it back off me to buy some beers!.
He'll probably just laugh and say’’ I have brought you at least $100 dollars worth of food since then’’.
‘’Yeah but not enough money to just give my $20 bucks back though aye’’.
Mountain Biking With Clueless
"Hurry up, stop messing with your hair!"
"Fine." I replied to Dad in a frustrated tone. He stood at the entrance of Cougar Park, waiting for me, while my stupid younger Brother Kees rode his bike in circles, screaming. "Let's Go, we need to go now!"
Kees continued to whine about how slow we were. Oh, how annoying, Why does he have to join us? I thought to myself as I tightened my clip-on shoes, Dad picked up Mum's bike out of the van. This was the first time I have ever ridden a proper mountain bike. I've just been using a normal bike, nothing special, and although I'm hardly experienced in mountain biking, Dad takes me every Sunday. And through-out the whole week, biking was the only thing I could think about. But this week was different; I got to ride Mum's bike, which was quite an upgrade for me. This bike had clip-on shoes, which would clip on the small petal if you pushed on it hard enough.
Dad picked up the bike and carried it down the gravel path, I followed him with a confident, slightly goofy smile, I was feeling confident, thinking how easy this would be. I was taught how to clip on the shoes step by step, but my clueless self didn’t understand at all, and in the end, I sat on my bike seat as Dad did all the hard work attempting to get the shoes to clip onto my bike.
Click! The shoes finally decided to work, and it felt like my feet were super glued to the bike, I just didn't know how to un-clip. Ouch! I trip and hit my head on the gravel path. These clip-on shoes were so irritating! Apparently, these shoes are safer for mountain bikers but what would you call that? Dad and Kees waved to me on their bikes trying not to laugh, “It's alright, You'll get there soon, Bye!” They disappeared into the distance, while I was still stuck in the entrance of Cougar Park and on top of that, my head was throbbing.
Honestly, I was pretty annoyed, but I stood up and had a look at the shoes. I glanced at one of the shoes to see rocks ground into the part where the shoes clip. I yanked out the rocks until there was none left, and then nervously hopped on the bike, getting prepared to fall once again. But instead, the shoes effortlessly worked their magic and finally, I figured out how to use the bike. Soon enough later, I was pedaling my way down the path, struggling but somehow managed. I mucked around with the gears changing them every few seconds, trying out which ones are best.
I continued to play around with the bike and its features, once I was satisfied with the gears and all that I sped up a bit and slowly caught up to the others. Maybe clip-on shoes weren't so bad after all.
Kawhia
We had finally made it to Kawhia Beach after what felt like decades. Speedily, I bolted up the blistering hot black sand dune like a charging rhino, heading straight towards the great blue ocean. Meanwhile my older siblings Cheye Te Aohinga and my brother's girlfriend Poppy setup our camp type area. Soon after, Te Aohinga and I splashed around in the waves, but after what felt like an eternity Cheye and Poppy came down to the cool water. We all played skim ball in the rough blue ocean together boy versus girls, and the boys won.
“Let's go body surfing!” Cheye yelled.
“That sounds awesome,” I reply.
Eventually, we caught a glimpse of a massive wave not too far away so we swam out to it. We were both going to body surf it, but instead of it taking me to the shore like my brother it took me under, and I felt as if the oxygen from my lungs was swept away. Afterwards, I felt petrified almost as if I looked straight at medusa.
Slowly, I made my way back to shore, walking up the scorching hot sand. My wet feet made it feel as if I was immune to the heat of the sand. I finally got back to our camp and decided to get a sun tan. During this time Te Aohinga and I asked “What time is it?”
“Half past five” Poppy replied
“Damn it’s getting late,” Te Aohinga replied.
After it was too late I realized that I forgot to put on some extra sunscreen.
Soon after this, My brother asked “ Hey Jacob play bat and ball?”, “Yeah,” I energetically reply
I got wrecked because my feet kept getting stuck in the soft black sand beneath me.
GRRRRRR our stomachs growled after that big day. As we were leaving the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, while it cast a marvelous beautiful orange sunset on the ocean water.
A Daunting Moment At Pilots Bay
Swash! I dived into the turbulent waves that were crashing before my eyes. If only I knew what was to come when I jumped into the dark credulous water. Would I have still jumped in? Probably, who can resist the appealing cool water, even if some panic is involved for a short while.
As I lay on the inflatable tubes floating on the water at Pilots Bay, the scorching sun was shining brightly upon me, the heat feeling like blazing flames. I thought to myself, what a perfect day to go swimming! As my sister, Gabriella and my Mom came to join me in the calm, warm and inviting water.
Slowly, I closed my eyes; the gentle ocean swells collided with each other. I Imagined the food we were about to eat for lunch. Sweet barbecue lamb ribs, peri peri chicken skewers, and some of my Ouma’s vetkoet. Her fried bread is truly out of this world, the images of food running through my mind.
“The forecast said it was going to be cloudy today,” my Mom said, as the waves carried us further and further away from shore.
“Yeah, and to think we were going to stay home this morning,” Gabriella exclaimed, while I drifted off into a trance. Suddenly, pictures of sharks began forming in my mind, like an unsettling scene from the movie Jaws.
“Imagine if there were sharks swimming right beneath us,” I laughed nervously, remembering the warnings I read online, about sharks being spotted in this exact location! Worry was the only thing that entered my mind. Imagining a huge shark like the megalodon swimming up and taking a bite from my young and skinny legs.
“Don’t say that! It might actually happen,” Gabriella replied, as fear crossed my Mom and Gabriella’s faces.
“It’s not like we are that far out from shore, so we’re good,” I laughed, skeptically, as I tried to touch the sea bed with my legs. My face turned white like snow.
“I can’t touch it!” I thought to myself, as sweat dripped down my forehead. Fine, maybe, it wasn’t sweat but just water dripping down, this was nerve wracking!
“I think we should go back, we are a little too far out,” my Mom said, with a smile on her face, but deep down inside, I knew she felt the same way as me. Worried.
“That’s a great idea Mom!” Gabriella replied, a frightened look growing on her face. It wasn’t my fault we watched all those shark movies, as I still had zero survival skills.
We all began kicking like crazy to get back to solid land but it felt like we weren't making any progress. So close but yet so far, those words were darting through my head, like I was so close to hitting the big, and red bullseye, but ended up missing the target drastically.
I gripped the inflatable tubes tightly, this was the moment to prove to myself that I could be strong even in serious situations.
“We are almost there!” Gabriella shouted, we were all doggy paddling as if our lives depended on it. Courageously, I glanced upwards; we were finally approaching the sandy shore. All this struggle, and all this stress, would soon be over. Over, that word sure sounded nice. I took a deep breath and frantically continued kicking back and forth. At last we reached the beach. Never had feeling the slimy and coarse sand beneath my feet felt so good before.
“Abigail, lunch is ready!” my Dad shouted from afar, as I saw Gabriella and my Mom already making their way up the wooden steps. Quick as a flash, I sprinted up the steps to catch up with my family; I breathed a sigh of relief, as this daunting moment at Pilots Bay was at long last over, for now…
Abigail Reggae
My heart sank hearing my Dad's words, “It’s Reggae, we have to go now!' was too stunned to even speak.
I hurried to the car terrified that his words were true and I was unsure where we were going.``Where are we?” I asked Kiara.
“Rotorua vets.” she replied, I was bawling, finding out my father's words were nothing but the truth.
I jumped out of the car and ran towards the vets, rushing inside looking for Reggae. I wasn’t prepared for what I walked into, he looked tired and I knew it was time. Turns out he had a massive tumor in his ribs, I just know it was sore. I decided I’d accept the fact he had to leave us, a vet lady injected a tube into his arm not even halfway down and Reggae lost all his facial expression, I started feeling sad & confused.
The next morning I thought I had woken up. I felt really strange for some reason it still felt like Reggae was here. I walked into the lounge and it was Reggae! “no way? Is this real? I thought. I tried pinching myself, It definitely wasn't a dream. I played outside with him but the minute I touched him I woke up unfortunately it was a dream.
Now I have to accept that he's gone. I look in the lounge and it's empty. I had a quick thought and realised no more Reggae running up to me in the morning, no more hearing barks that echoed through the house, no more walking around the block, no more everything. I went to get some treats and buried them in his dirt so the treats would get used up. While I was doing that I had a lot of flashbacks, he was a great dog and everything just popped in my head again, even the memories from when I was 6 months old. He had always been by my side but sadly that faded.
I feel very regretful for all the walks I didn’t take him on around the block, all the quality time I didn't spend with him, all the times I walked past him without saying anything, not even a “Hi”, all the times I ignored him,.
Reggae was a very loving dog. Nadia
The House Fire
I quickly grabbed my baby brother, if only I knew what to do, but I couldn’t even move, or think. All I could do was stand there with a blank mind,I was frightened. I started panicking as the enormous big flame was glowing above the ceiling, dripping, crackling, everything was going to start burning. The fire alarm was going on and off nonstop, it was like, everything was going insane, it felt all fake at first, like a nightmare, but it wasn't. Everything was reality, every single thing was real, but once I sprinted outside the whole street was covered in smoke which smelt very disgusting, and made me cough nonstop.
I stood on the other side of the road with my little siblings and watched as my parents and older siblings kept running in and out of the house to try and save a lot of things, but they ended up getting discarded or well thrown out because they all smelt like that abominable smoke smell, I never expected this to ever happen. Once the cars got reversed back, It started to dissolve through the roof. I jumped in and scrutinized the ginormous flames as they started to expand into what now looked like astronomically huge flames. I turned to my siblings and reassured them, “Shh everything will be okay, it will end soon hopefully”
After twenty minutes, the firefighters finally came, and they started to get ready so they could put out the fire. It was quite terrifying watching something that you would have never expected to happen. I watched as they sprayed the house. It was quite fascinating watching the hose spray the roof to get the fire away, but still a bit petrified just watching it, but soon afterward the flames vanished.
After two hours we were finally allowed inside, l slowly stepped into the house curiously. Thinking that it wouldn’t look exceptional, or even smell delightful. I felt my heart slowly drop. I ended up being in shock looking at the results,I saw a lot of things all over the floor. It was the ashes that had fallen from the flames as it demolished half the roof. The floor was soaked because of the water from the firefighters, and the entire place looked as if there was a gigantic party but it was just a giant pigsty.
I ended up just sitting by my parents. I was so perplexed and so bewildered, afterwards my big brother drove us to the shop to buy us some delicious big Benmince and cheese pies. We ended up eating and then just chilling outside, afterwards, I played around the front with my little baby brother, and nephew so they wouldn't be inside smelling that disgusting smoke smell.
Right before it started to change to night ,my older cousin ended up coming around and started helping my parents. She ended up letting us stay at the P.I.C. Church and then started to take some of us kids. I stayed back and waited for my parents, but the two babies were sleeping in the only room that didn't have any of that despicable smell. So my older sister and her partner stayed back even though it was almost half past 7.
After a while, we finally left and headed towards the Church. Once we arrived I walked in to see all of my siblings having fun and exploring around with all of our cousins. Since we were about to eat I went to sit by the table. But before we ate, someone from my dad's side(I forgot his name) was talking to him first, but once he finished we said a karakia, and then we got to eat. There was Sweet and Sour Pork which I mostly ate instead of the other things, delicious Chicken Fried Rice, plain Hot Chips, and also Chow-Mein.
“Clean this up girls, and make sure you girls wash the dishes properly,” my Auntie said to my cousins. So they ended up getting all the plates and started taking them downstairs.
After a while, my older cousins started to put the mattresses down and make the beds for us, once everybody started to leave(some of my cousins were sleeping downstairs while we slept upstairs) I started to get my stuff for my shower. Along with my other older sisters. After we had a nice warm shower to take away the despicable smoke smell, we went back upstairs and went to lie in bed. I slowly started to close my eyes, but then this thought slipped into my mind. “Will the heaters catch on fire?” and then it wouldn’t leave my mind alone.It was like I couldn’t get rid of this thought, as if it was uncontrollable.
I ended up trying to think about other things to get rid of this irrelevant thought, but it never worked. Since I was tired after everything that was happening, my eyes gently shut themselves and at last I fell asleep. I anxiously hoped that I would never have to go through this situation again in my life because this situation was so frightening. But I am ecstatic that everybody survived and made it out and did not end up getting burnt alive or any of that, I just couldn't imagine any of that.
Azaylia
OHOPE THE FINAL SUMMER
What turned out to be my final summer at the beach with my family would be the summer of a lifetime and the memories would be worth an eternal paradise that would never fade away.
On January 1st, finally, we arrived at Ohope from a two-hour drive, the place I called my second home.It was also voted New Zealand's most-loved beach.
From the majestic view of the ocean to the reflection of the sun in the sea (sometimes it made my eyes water).
Every day we headed down to the beach no matter the tide or time there was always something to do.I spent hours in the water enthusiastically boogie boarding massive waves, swimming slowly out further so I could try to body surf and always keeping an eye out for sharks…baby sharks who liked to play in the waves. If I wasn’t swimming in the water I’d play in the sand building humongous sand mountains and trying to protect them from my brothers who always tried to bust it even though I did it.
What's a splendid holiday without tasty food that makes your mouth water like hot mince and cheese pies and tomato-sauced chips from the bakery. Don’t forget the movie snacks! Brown fresh waffles with melty boysenberry ice cream yum yum and buttery popcorn, lollies, and packs of M&Ms. Let's not forget our family favourite the Strawberry Farm, no other shop could beat what they prepare.
My favourite foods are fruity ice creams, chicken nuggets, and chips too. Have you ever tasted aioli with chips? trust me it's good HMMM/Some days we preferred just to be at home and you know what it wasn’t so bad we’d had some family classics, like burgers freshly made and sizzlers from the BBQ with fresh mashed potatoes.
SWISH SWISH “Pass me the ball, Pass me the ball” Dad yelled. At Ohope, we were never bored, every minute was jammed packed full of fun! Basketball was the main game we played.
There we were, right on our driveway at the beach house playing another game of 1V1. SWOOP Dad’s got the ball in the basket and Dad wins again. Another day of baskets and shoots each and every one of us striving to the top and determined to win the game. Often my brothers and their friends always versed each other and us too and every single morning or afternoon one of us would be on the court. Occasionally that wasn’t the only time we showed determination while having fun. The Ohope wharf was the one place where we challenged each other to the best manu when was high tide. The fun never ended like when we played card games like slam and every time we thought strategically to not be the loser or if the opponent was cheating. Fun was sometimes scary like jumping on the flying fox unaware if I’d fall or when we tried to dive into the pool without our brothers in it or they would get us.
After a while I had some clues that it would be at the beach but what exactly were we doing? Much admired it was horseback riding on horses.I wasn’t too confident about the riding but it was too late to ask. We saddled up and hopped on except it was a bit harder for me because the helmet needed to be my size and it took me a while to get on my horse Alborties.
Then away we went through muddy puddles and twitching branches in a tight helmet. My horse was a little hard to handle but my cousin Levi told me what to do. But Dad was the opposite. He strived and pushed to get in front. When we rode to the river the level got harder the horse didn’t like water especially mine when dad pushed again to get back in front that was the moment……NEIGH! SPLOSH I fell in the cold water damp, soaked, and had a frightened horse. Then when I got back on my horse I realised my boots were broken. Then when we got back on the beach we were told to hop off our horses and let them gallop and roam. Almost unbelievable Aunty Lins fell off her horse which frightened us all.
But that wasn’t the end of our troubles. All of a sudden we realised Preston was allergic to horses. We had to leave urgently. We drove and drove not a chemist we could see and time was short. Preston’s whole face was infected but luckily we found some cream and it was the end of our troubles.
Thankfully we arrived home, we sat in the chairs after an exhausting day of horses and an allergic Preston and decided to enjoy the end of the day with salted hot chips to end it well.
“Ahhhh this is life ain’t it, nothing going away” but it was the opposite of what I was thinking. For the first time in 20-something years, Nan and Dada decided to sell. They discussed it for a while and told Mum and Dad. Soon they realised this was the last time they would be at this house.
After some dusting and some ship and shine the house looked completely brand new. Thereafter some time we got the house up on the housing market and as we waited. We took time off when we had to leave the house for inspections or an open house sale. Sometimes it was hard to find what to do especially when we waited. As we cleaned and cleaned not a single offer came. We waited for days, weeks, months then suddenly an offer came by, one that Nan and Dada couldn’t resist. Shifting and shifting is what came next. We got rid of the stuff out of the house and shipped them home. So came a new era for our house and its new owners.
On the last day we were heading home we knew would miss the house so dearly, much like a part of us had vanished and memories we couldn’t bear to forget. Some of us were depressed like myself. Mum and Dad said we’d buy another house and still come back but it would take time, a very very long time. Payton
Scoring a Try.
The crowd went wild as I perfectly stepped the fullback and scored the winning try. I looked up to see so many people and my Dad with a big smile on his face, he looked so proud of me. My team was at Mt Smart Stadium. we play the best team in Auckland the Otara Scorpions.
I got the ball from Drollett. It was tackle 4 and I saw a big hole and backed myself and I was lucky, I got past the line. It was 1v1 me and the fullback I was charging at the fullback like a bull. It was just in me at the time I was thinking of Kalyn Ponga and his step. The crowd just went wild as I pulled off the step. I was super scared I would drop the ball. At last, it was me and the try line.
I scored and saw all the Warriors and Bulldogs players and coaching staff on the sideline jumping up and shouting ‘Go boy go!’ .
I scooter the try then I celebrate the try.
After the game, we walked past the Warriors and the Bulldogs and shook their hand as we walked off the field. I walked with one of the boys to get a feed out of nowhere. This man gave me 100 dollars for the try.
He said, “You’re like a Kalyn Ponga boy far out.”
Matt Burton and the fox came to me and said “Far you are a good league player” meanwhile. Hemi was twerking at the fancam on tv.
After the NRL game... I got my boots, bag, and my ball sign from the Warriors and Bulldogs played. I saw Jake Averillo, he had a box of beer that they had taken on the bus.
Finally, I went to my brother's house and watched the next NRL game.
That was a day I will never forget. Teinakore
Crashing the Boat.
“Ah that was a lovely fishing trip,” said my Grandad as he was gutting the fish. He asked if me and Haylee could go wash the fishing rods, we reluctantly agreed but we ended up saying yes. So we took the rods up to the beach house one by one so we didn't drop them. We sprayed them down with the hose and we kept spraying them till they were squeaky clean.
As soon as we were done spraying the rods, we could hear all the old-school jams blasting loudly on the speakers out on the deck. Me and Haylee went inside, I went to my room and played with the toy soldiers and I gladly re-enacted WW2 and how Adolf Hitler got smacked up and ‘1v1ed’ my best soldier called Megatron.
Meanwhile Haylee and Indy went to find Nan so they could play this board game called Gooey Louie, It is when you have to put snot-filled rolls up Louie's nose and put his brain in his head, when you put all that in you will have to roll a dice and you pick out the amount of snot the number on the dice rolls if you pull the snot and the brain comes out instead, you win!!!!.
Grandad called Haylee and me outside, he was half drunk and asked us to sing with him. Me and Haylee were a bit skeptical because we didn't know any of the words but we ended up just lip-syncing. When the song had finished Grandad asked us to go get some cans of sprites so they could make some weird drink combinations with all the liquor they had.
Me and Haylee agreed that if Grandad would give us 10 bucks each we would go down to the boat and collect his cans of Sprite for him. He said yes cause he was a bit tipsy but was still staying strong and was only 3 shots down.
We went down to the boat and wondered why the boat was still on. We were quite scared because all the lights were off and the boat kept on making these very terrifying sounds so me and Haylee were very anxious to go upstairs cause we felt like demons would haunt us, so I just gapped it up the stairs and scraped my knee cause I was going faster than the Flash and Haylee was very astonished that I just did that so she wasn't that frightened so she soon followed after me. When we were up the stairs I felt very brave and confident that I had led the way.
Me and Haylee thought of a devious plan to prank the adults so we decided to honk the horn because the horn is how loud, we got onto all the technical stuff and found the button that looked most like a horn. But instead of the horn we heard the engine start up, and we got a fright, We started mucking around with the steering wheel and the rudders because we couldn't find the horn. That’s when we ended up turning the rudder up to 300 knots that's equivalent to 555.6km and that was only with one rudder on, but before we knew it BAM we collided with the other boat, but luckily we just ended up scratching the paint. All the parents came down to check what was going on and when they saw us they instantly knew what was going on. Me and Haylee tried to remember what Grandad told us about going faster and slower and just before we were about to hit another boat, Haylee remembered what to do so she turned both the rutters off just before we hit the other boat.
My Grandad ended up having to swim over and put the boat back while my Nan and Mum went to get some more ropes to tie the boat back up. Lochie Ruru
Struggle to Get to Japan
‘’Why don’t you go for a walk while I sort things out?’’ My Mum whispered with a worried look on her face. I strolled around the Auckland airport with Tats, looking for something to eat boringly. I was a bit anxious because we forgot to do the Covid test before, but now we have done the Covid test, we need to wait for the test results back to see if we have Covid or not. And my brother, Tats, was a bit sick.
So my fingers were crossed the whole time hoping none of us would have Covid. I was about to ask Tats if he thought we might still be able to go to Japan but I couldn’t get my mouth to open, It was like my mouth was taped shut because I knew the answer would be NO! And if he said it, it would just make me feel worse. Suddenly after a few minutes of waiting bored, Tatsuya’s phone started to vibrate. He answered the call ’’ Mum got the test results back, she said to start heading back to her’’
Tats said with a nervous voice.
When we went back and found Mum, she wasn’t smiling…She said quietly
‘’I got the tests results back…and we are…safe to go to Japan!’’
I hugged my mum so tight that she could hardly breathe. This had to be a miracle! I thought. I couldn’t believe it, we’d be on a plane in a few hours.
When Dad arrived, I tried tricking him into thinking we couldn’t go to Japan but I couldn’t hold back my smile.
The checking-in was another huge drama( but that's a long story)Anyways, in a few hours we were on a plane, FINALLY taking the flight to Japan via Singapore
I was finally going to see my grandparents again. Temali
The Burma Trail
I heard the group before me screaming. I was waiting patiently for my turn until…Group 2!!
“Oh no, that's my group.” I thought to myself, I was excited but also scared.
It was the last day at Camp Waitawheta. Apparently, it was tradition to do the Burma Trail.
“What’s that?” asked Tema.
“ Well,” exclaimed our teacher. “ The Burma Trail is a trail in the woods that our parents have set up. There is a rope you have to follow, try not to get lost,” she said trying to scare us. “ But there are adults behind you to help!” she said joyfully.
A girl in my group was a bit hesitant at first but my group convinced her to come… and she agreed.
All of us were waiting patiently in line, we were all a bit scared, and because it was nighttime that made it scarier.
Me and my group were walking towards the trail, and there was complete silence… well for a few seconds.
Anyway, the girls in front of me started screaming one by one, then someone grabbed my foot.
“ AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”
I screamed as loud as I could, I just wanted to get out of here.
I was too busy screaming that I lost the rope that was guiding me.
Luckily there was an adult behind me to help, but it was still scary.
A few minutes later me and my group were still walking in absolute darkness, until…
“ I see light,” I screamed.
We all ran out like we were running for our lives.
Our teacher said that we were the loudest screamers out of all the groups, but to be honest, all of us were just relieved that we got out of that trail of endless darkness.
Kelani
"At Garden to Table, we believe that tamariki are changemakers.
Our kaupapa is to empower tamariki to grow, harvest, prepare and share great food.
We enable schools and kura throughout the motu to deliver, embed and sustain impactful food education. Through our curriculum-linked food education programme, we take learning out of the classroom, and empower Kiwi kids to grow and cook their own fresh, seasonal, and environmentally sustainable kai.
Our programme is highly practical and child-centric, supporting students to learn to work together. The theme of “kids doing everything” is a key component of the sessions; skills are not watered down for tamariki and they learn to operate in the kitchen and garden as they would at home, with careful observation and guidance.
We also teach children to nurture, share, and manaaki guests, whilst building awareness of individual and collective responsibility to manaaki te taiao - care for our environment. Supporting children’s health and wellbeing is central, and celebrating the preparing and sharing of great food fosters community connectedness.
Bringing these skills back builds the resilience needed for life, and helps combat today’s pressing health, educational, social and environmental challenges. These positive impacts radiate far beyond school gates – to whānau - families, the wider community, and the planet – ultimately enabling a more sustainable, equitable and climate friendly social and economic future.
Our dream is for every child in Aotearoa New Zealand to have the opportunity and resources to grow and share their own fresh kai as part of daily life
https://gardentotable.org.nz/kaupapa
