Hero photograph
50 ākonga studying te reo Māori at Hagley College
 
Photo by Regan Stokes

Au.E! Rangatahi Event

Regan Stokes —

On Friday the 7th of September, Sondra Bunt-Muir and Fiona Brownlie took 50 ākonga studying te reo Māori to an event aimed at celebrating rangatahi (youth) and increasing suicide awareness.

The event was held at Bishopdale Recreation Centre and was a great success; ākonga had great behaviour and really enjoyed the day.

The event started with a karakia before a selection of guest speakers spoke to ākonga on a variety of topics. Kenny McFadden, a basketball coach from America spoke about his experiences coaching/mentoring Steven Adams, a Māori basketball player who now plays in the NBA; King Kapisi spoke of his music career; and Raniera Rewiri shared his past experience of bullying. In between guest speakers, ākonga had a variety of workshops they could opt into: basketball, beauty, art, exercise and music. It was also reported that the kai was very good, which is one sign of a great hui. Ākonga went home knowing that they are appreciated and that there are many support systems in place in times of need - whānau, hoa (friends) and kura (school) being some of them.

Tēnā rawa atu Sondra kōrua ko Fiona i te tautoko o tēnei kaupapa; nā tā kōrua mahi taua rā i rawe ai. Otirā tēnā hoki koutou e ngā kaiako nāna tēnei i tautoko. Thank you very much to Sondra for organising the day, Fiona for supporting and all of the teachers who helped their students get their permission slips in.