Student leaders represented Te Aratai College at the inaugural Emerging Ethnic Leaders Breakfast.

On Wednesday the 18th of May, Ivo Baguingey and Ashlin Chandra represented Te Aratai College at the Emerging Ethnic Leaders Breakfast. This was the first event of its kind in Canterbury and also nationally.

It was a wonderful celebration of student leadership, identity, language and culture. There were 41 student leaders and school staff from 22 different secondary schools. This comprised students from 26 different ethnicities. It was an amazing turnout for an early start on Wednesday morning.

The programme included speeches from the Honourable Lianne Dalziel and a keynote address from Abbas Nazari who also signed copies of his book After the Tampa for attendees.

The real highlight though was seeing and meeting the students. What an amazing cohort of diverse students we have in Ōtautahi – and eight of them are head students in their respective schools. Each attendee was awarded a certificate and a book voucher.

It was a wonderful event and we were very proud to have two of our student leaders representing us on such an occasion.