Supporting Hawkes Bay Schools
Tūtira School is between Wairoa and Napier and after the cyclone was completely isolated, cut off from both sides. We spoke to the principal who said that they were unlikely to open again this term, so the one teacher who could get to school was trying to put hard packs together to distribute to the students. Many of them still had no power or internet. We thought that this was something that we could help with!
We contacted LakeView Helicopters who agreed to drop packs off two days later if we could get them made in time. So, we had a mad dash to buy supplies and print our nature scavenger hunts. Some of our student leaders had a little working bee and put folders of resources together, made little packets to put Easter eggs in and then assembled lots of treats and stationery items into bags that were kindly donated by Warehouse Stationery. We rushed in to Quality Print Ltd and they printed off resources from our website that had been requested by the principal. Field-Based STEM donated money for folders and topic books (also requested by the school). We had enough packs made for all students at Tūtira School and Putorino School to have one each. We couldn't stretch our budget to buy activity books , so put a call out on social media for anyone who could buy any to drop them off by 12:00 the next day. We couldn’t believe it when we saw a huge box of activity books waiting for us. Epro and Korio Digital Marketing had bought every activity book in town! Taupo Community Playgroup donated LOTS of play dough and DIY gliders for us to add to packs.
The boxes were sealed up and delivered to LakeView Helicopters. Each pack was full of treats, stationery, toys, and activities. The principals of Putorino and Tūtira Schools were absolutely blown away by the generosity shown by the people of Taupō, and were excited that their kids would see that people in other parts of the country cared for them and were thinking of them.
Then we had a phone call from the principal of Te Pohue School. They had 16 students unable to reach their school. 11 of them were on the Taupō side and could be reached by car. One teacher was trying to teach them from her home without resources. They didn’t know when they would be able to open again. We decided to put together another 20 hard packs for the students and their younger siblings. We were absolutely blown away by the generosity of our community as donations for the packs came flooding in. Thanks Roses Kustom Worx, Central RV, Warehouse Stationery Taupo, Office Products, and Quality Print Ltd for the generous donations.
We had planned to travel to give the students of Te Pohue School their packs, and a fun day. We were going to run a session with 'Bug Man' Ruud Kleinpaste, deliver their packs of goodies and give them ice cream and yummy lunches. Unfortunately, once again the weather ruined plans and made it unsafe to travel out there. We didn't want the lunch packs to go to waste, so we had fun delivering them to deserving locals who had been helping out Hawkes Bay. We dropped them off at LakeView Helicopters , Greenlea Rescue Helicopter, Hospice Shop, and Whānau Taupō. It was so nice to give to those who are giving to others. Thank you to The Landing for donating the lunch packs and for helping us to plan a different fun day for the kids.
We heard that the Te Pohue children were hoping to participate in the Iron Kidz Triathlon event in Taupō and that the Lake Taupō Holiday Resort were giving them free accommodation, so we arranged for them to have a free session at Dropzone and free lunch at The Landing. We met them there and gave them their packs. TV3 even turned up to film us! It was such a special day of fun for families who were going through so much.
Waipahihi School started their own initiative to help out Wainui Beach School in Gisborne to replant native trees to replace what they lost in the cyclone. With the help of Ruud “The Bug Man” Kleinpaste and Field-Based STEM, Waipahihi Botanical Reserve, and KGT, students collected a couple of hundred native seedlings from their own school grounds as well as the gardens. They have potted them up and are planning to care for them until Wainui Beach School is ready to replant their grounds and other places in their community. Then they will send them over for them to plant. This is such a great example of hands on learning through real life collaborative projects while developing compassion for others.
