The Māori & Pasifika Awards Ceremony was held on Tuesday 1st November.

On November 1st, Kaiapoi High School celebrated our annual Awards evening for our Māori and Pasifika students. This event is a legacy that was started in 2020 by one of our previous head students, Waiora Brooks, and one of our previous Pasifika leaders, Emma-Rose Kennar. They began this as a student-led event and this tradition has continued into 2022 with Nikau Van Pelt, Selina Pesefea, Tenika Lewis, Taraivini Druldruli, and Tokasa Drulidruli leading this year’s celebration.

This was our third year celebrating the Māori and Pasifika excellence and success. Last year this event was not as vibrant as it was in its first year as we had to work within COVID restrictions. This meant we were unable to invite whānau and aiga to come to the celebration. However, with a little more normality returning into our world, this year’s awards prizegiving was able to happen, with invitations to many whānau, aiga members, and kaiako to come along and celebrate our Māori and Pasifika students in a place where they could feel comfortable in embracing their cultures.

The evening was a huge success, with around 70 Māori and Pasifika students being awarded a prize for their efforts, either in sports, performance, community service, or academics. These awards were not participation awards and were awarded to our students who had represented on regional, national, and international levels. The number of students who gained awards highlights how amazing and outstanding our Māori and Pasifika students are and that they live the kura’s values of Respect, Integrity, Community, and Excellence in whatever they choose to do. Congratulations to all our prizewinners and especially to our Māori and Pasifika Leadership Award winners, Nikau Van Pelt and Selina Pesefea.  

The night was filled with excellent performances from our kapahaka group Te Rakiwhakaputa, the Pasifika girls doing a traditional Island dance, which was a combination of Samoan and Fijian girls, Talula Green shredding a hip hop dance solo, and Selina Pesefea and Oge Tay Lafulafu performing a special Samoan thank you dance to finish off the night.

This Awards evening really underlines how special our students are as this event was led by the students, who spent hours of their own time sorting out award winners, making trophies, setting up the auditorium, and getting all the performances and awards presenters prepared and ready to go. A massive shout-out to Whaea Danna and Matua Remi for all of their work behind the scenes that help support our students in becoming leaders. They are amazing role models for our Māori and Pasifika students and I know the students really appreciated all of their help and tautoko leading up to and on the night of the awards celebration. Also to our whānau and aiga tutor teachers; Wade Cook, Ruth Keir, Kelsey Forge, Whaea Whitney Richardson, Connor Smith, Connor O’Rourke, Lou Johnson, and Jacinta Quinn, who are constantly supporting and uplifting our Māori and Pasifika students to be the best they can be and more. I know your constant aroha does not go unnoticed by our Māori and Pasifika students.

I just want to give another big shout-out to the crew of Y13 students who led the event, for their poise and leadership in creating another epic Māori and Pasifika Awards evening.

Also a big thank you to Jaz Mead, a Year 12 student who helped with all of the catering for the night and Maxwell Fantham-Reilly, a year 13 student who was our photographer for the evening, and Mr Ethan Mead, our kaiako of music, who helped with the sound and lighting. We look forward to celebrating more success and excellence in 2023!

Edward Kwon, Dean of Māori and Pasifika Academic Achievement and Pathways