Our Team
Our Coordinators
Our Education Coordinators work closely with local community members, educators, partners and funders to provide the wider community with local environmental education opportunities both on the ground and online.
Rachel Thompson
Lead Education Coordinator 2020-Present
BA + Post Grad Diploma of Primary Teaching
Over 20 years of teaching experience in many different roles
Mum of three explorers
Highlights working for KGT:
Getting to be out in nature as part of my job
Learning about our amazing unique endemic plants and animals, and sharing these learnings with tamariki
Seeing the joy on people's faces as they connect with nature and make a difference to our environment
“My job is awesome. I get to educate our future leaders and help improve our local environment, all while spending time in nature, learning new skills and having fun!"
Heidi Pritchard
Education Coordinator 2022 - Present
B.A. in Spanish with Primary Teaching Diploma earned in California
Post Grad Diploma in Early Childhood Education earned in New Zealand
Mom to three fun-loving children
Highlights of working for KGT
Combining my love of nature and teaching
Gaining cultural insight into New Zealand/Aotearoa through its native plants and animals
Having a positive environmental impact with my community for future generations
“ I am overjoyed to be a part of this organization. KGT has given me the opportunity to integrate nature holistically into children’s education while benefiting the community. ”
Ariana Fiaola
Tūrangi Coordinator/Kairuruku Reo Māori 2024
Diploma - Kaitiakitanga Pūtaiao (Environmental Management) through Te Wānanga o Raukawa.
Māmā of three
Highlights working for KGT:
Whakawhanaunga me ngā tamariki + rangatahi ō Tūwharetoa (building relationships with tamariki & rangatahi of Tūwharetoa)
Hands on learning! Ditching the textbooks to explore fun, creative and engaging ways for tamariki/rangatahi to learn and connect with the taiao
Working, teaching and learning in Te Reo Māori.
Opportunity to network/meet with other environmental initiatives.
Thea Depetris
Founding member of the Kids Greening Taupō programme 2015
Lead coordinator 2016-2020
Coordinating the Senior Leadership Team 2022
Mentor, advisor, and member of the KGT Strategic Leadership Group 2020-present
Highlights working for KGT:
It is an amazing gift to do 'work' that aligns with my values and interests.
Fostering a shared-vision for the Taupō community as a foundation to achieving educational and environmental outcomes.
The opportunity to work alongside passionate rangatahi, across all ages.
Working closely with:
Robyn
Ellis
Coordinator for Greening Taupō
Coordinator for Predator Free Taupō
Kiri
Te Wano
Project Tongariro Director
Anna
Calvert
Project Tongariro Coordinator
Paul
Green
Project Tongariro Executive Board Member
and our advisor/Mentor
Past Coordinators
Benoir Midwood-Murray
Kairuruku reo Māori 2023
Ā Ioio nuku, Ā Ioio rangi
Ā Ioio ki Uta, Ā Ioio ki Tai
Ā Io ki te whāi ao ki te ao marama
Tihei māuri ora
Tihēwa, tihēwa!
He Uri ahau mai I ōku Tūpuna nō Ngāti Awa, me Ngāti Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau ko ngā waka ēnei mai te Paepae ki Rarotonga, Ko Mataatua, Ko Arawa tae atu ki tēnei pitopito o te motu, Nōreira tēna tātou katoa.
E mihi tēnei ki te Whare Kāhui Ārikinui tōnu – Ki Ta Tumu te Hēuhēu me tōna Makau me ōna Tamāriki Mokopuna katōa - Pāimarie
Ko wai au / Who am I? – My people came from within the whenua we are Hapūoneone, I am a descendant of all the waka that arrived here in Aotearoa my whakapapa enables me to flow like our tides then transitioning towards our anointing waters of our ancestors to our Inland Sea ko Taupō te Mōana. I acknowledge the many kaitiaki Kaumatua and Kūia that have been before and the generations to come.
My experience in Te Taiao comes from a life time of sharing and as a Eco-Cutural Māori Guide and a past graduate of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa I have a Dip. Tiakina Te Taiao – Iwi Environmental Management & Trusteeship & Dip. Te Tohu Matauranga I te Rēo me ōna Tikanga. I planned to complete my bachelor’s degree but along with my wife we decided to have a life, our Tamariki became our focus, moving home to Taupō 21years ago I was asked by our Kaumatua from Te Kapa o Te Rangiita ki Ōruanui to bless and open the day for KGT – Kids Greening Taupō where my Tamariki helped to plant the very first trees. I have come full circle and now a member of our Tribes Manaaki Whenua, Manaaki Taiao Team I have returned to our Taiao to honour our whanaunga me Iramutu – Tākoha o te Rangi Pitiroi and Hinemoa Karaitiana for their mahi that is now deeply rooted within our communities we thank you and support you in your new huarahi, mehemea hoki mai anō ki tēnei Pou Taiao.
I am a Pouako for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and Manaaki Taiao for Te Kōtahitanga o Ngāti Tūwharetoa – Manaaki Whenua Jobs for Nature. I am a Father/Dad and happily married with 3 Tamariki we are Ngāti Tūwharetoa, I sit on our Paepae at Te Kapa o Te Rangiita ki Ōruanui Mārae and Tautoko Te Hikuwai Paepae noho wānanga to ensure the Rēo of our Kaumatua is respected and our Tikanga and Kawa remains paramount.
Highlights working for Hapū:
Wetlands Restoration – Ōruanui-a-Tia – Hapū planning / Wānanga
Holding Taiao Wānanga which encompasses Te Whare Tapa Whā mo te Whānau
Hapū engagement with DoC – Whakaipō Bay for Te Kapa o Te Rangiita ki Ōruanui for the removal of the Wilding Pines.
Wetlands planting at Punawhakaata ki Tauranga Taupō
Eco-Cultural Guided Tours – Matauranga Māori
In this new role as Kairuruku Rēo Māori, I am privileged to be stepping into this space where Rangatahi have already paved the way for the Kaupapa. As a Tāne Māori working alongside a team of strong wāhine I believe I will bring value and balance to the space – Kia tangi ai te tini Parirau.
“Ka Pū te Rūha, ka hāo te Rangatahi – When the old net is tired & withered, a new net will take its place”.
Tēna kōutou kātoa.
Hinemoa Karaitiana
KAIRURUKU REO MĀORI 2022
Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei,
Ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei.
Ka puta ki te wheiao, ki te ao marama
Tihei Mauri ora!
Iwi: NgātiTutemohuta, Ngāti Tuwharetoa
Born into the realms of te ao Māori, te taiao, te reo me ōna tikanga, and was fortunate in my upbringing to have te reo Māori as a first language. I went through both Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori and spent my high school years at Taupō-nui-a-Tia College.
Te Wānanga o Raukawa, in my second year of study, studying towards a bachelor’s degree in environmental management, Kaitiakitanga Putaiao.
Currently studying a degree in Kaitiaki Pūtaiao /Environmental Management at Te Wānanga o Raukawa
Highlights working for KGT:
Te reo Māori, working with local Kura and Kohanga.
Te taiao, being out in Nature as part of mahi, out on the whenua, playing our part as Kaitiaki, and building that hononga, connection to the Natural world.
Always learning new cool things and working alongside passionate people.
Adventures!
“I am excited to be working in the environment with our people as a Kairuruku reo Māori and hope that as part of this mahi (work), more of our tamariki will have the opportunity to re-connect to our beautiful environment and become Kaitiaki for the whenua, and also for their own health and well-being, physically, mentally and spiritually, and to instill those values into their own whānau, hapū, iwi and wider community. When Nature thrives, so do the people.”
Tākoha o te rangi Pitiroi
Kairuruku reo Māori 2021-2022
Raised here in Tūwharetoa in a whānau where environmental education was highly valued and part of everyday life
Fluent in te reo Māori and attended kura kaupapa
Currently studying a degree in Kaitiaki Pūtaiao /Environmental Management at Te Wānanga o Raukawa
Highlights working for KGT:
Working with local kura kaupapa and kōhanga reo
Creating online education resources in te reo Māori
“I am excited to be working in the environment with our people as kairuruku reo Māori and hope that as part of this work more of our tamariki have the opportunity to connect to our beautiful environment.”
Sian Moffitt (2019-2021)
Education Coordinator 2019-2021
KGT student leader 2015: designed the KGT logo, photographed events/meetings and stepped into a student mentor role. Continued to be involved in KGT mahi throughout her university studies 2016-2018.
Highlights working for KGT:
Working on the ground with students from kindergarten right through to high school
Coordinating large-scale student-led restoration projects
Developing online learning resources
“I know how much of an impact environmental education and connection to nature can have on young people. I hope to improve local environmental education and give back the opportunities I was so fortunate to receive as a young leader myself.”