STEVEN PARRANT 1971 – 2018.

On Monday 23rd July we were stunned by the sudden passing of Steve Parrant, our highly regarded teacher, deputy principal and colleague, and a cornerstone of our team, and of our school. Our staff, students, parents and the wider community pulled together to help successfully, host for the family, a fitting farewell last Friday to such a quality husband, father, grandfather, son, friend, teacher, coach and colleague. A quality man from the very top draw.

Steven Parrant was a true-blue Levin and Horowhenua man, living in the town and district all his life. Steve represented both Horowhenua and Massey University in Hockey before moving into coaching. Eleven years ago he took up Tae Kwon Do, and soon began to become a high achiever in this discipline, becoming First Dan Black Belt and winning a number of gold medals at Nationals.

Straight after graduating in 1989 from Horowhenua College, Steve attended Massey University and in 1992 gained a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Geography.

After a two-year OE and six years in the family business in Levin, Steve returned to Massey in 2001 to train as a teacher. Part of the training was a six-week placement here at Manawatū College.

Steve so impressed Bruce Collett, the Principal of the time, that he was appointed to a permanent full-time position teaching Geography, History and Social Studies, and began his teaching career in January 2002.

Such were his abilities, Steve quickly moved up the ranks, gathering responsibilities such as Head of Department Social Studies, Morris House Dean, MAC Co-ordinator, Year 11 Dean, PRT Co-ordinator and Director of Teaching & Learning.

Such was his raft of responsibilities and his talents Steve was brought into the Senior Leadership Team as an Assistant Principal in 2010.

After time as Acting Deputy Principal Steve became a permanent Deputy Principal three years ago.

During this time I saw in Steve the qualities that would have made him ideally suited to take that final step and lead a school – sooner rather than later.

He was a superb teacher, with an excellent understanding of teaching and learning, which enabled him to lead this vital part of the school exceptionally well.

Steve became a driver in our involvement in Ministry Professional Development initiatives such as Ki Eke Panuku, which had amongst its aims teaching and learning becoming more culturally responsive. Such was Steve’s drive to become more understanding and inclusive of other cultures he joined and has faithfully attended, for the last 18 months, an afterschool Te Reo Maori class for staff and their families.

Steve also developed a strong understanding of restorative practice, and in recent years took responsibility for MANA, our positive guidance programme, as part of his role as DP.

Mr Parrant was a strongly relational man. Steve was regularly taking the initiative to build relationships with students – both in his classes and those who he came across in the playground. Students and staff found Steve so easy to like because of his humble and light-hearted manner, his joking, which was often at his own expense, and the fact that he genuinely listened to them. It was obvious to them that he cared.

Mr Parrant had the knack of making the students he was talking with feel that they were his favourites. Inevitably their egos would be deflated when they would find that others were also genuinely claiming that they were Mr Parrant’s favourite students too.

In her Facebook tribute to Steve, one of our teachers, Mrs Toni Kiriona quoted a bear

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard.”

- Winnie the Pooh

Those of us who have been part of our Manawatū College community for some, or even all, of the past 18 years have been blessed by Steve’s presence and his influence.

We are grateful that he has been part of our lives. He has inspired us all by his role-modelling to be better students, better teachers, better staff members and better people.

Noreira Steve

Haere, Haere, Haere atu ra

Kei roto i te aroha

Bruce McIntyre

Principal