Here we celebrate student achievement and showcase activities our students are involved in around college.

SOAR CERTIFICATES

Year 7 Week 6:  The photo above features the recipients of this week's SOAR certificates:

Madi Smith, Ellie Davis, Nova Arnott, Zavi Magill, Ada Reid, Nada Jodeh, Adair Nichol, Daisy Woods, Michael McConnell, Maia Wheeler, Pheobe Cervelli, Anabelle Tamblyn, Milo Adams, Hugo Van Maren, Preston Gibson.

ROTARY SPEECH COMPETITION

On Monday night, Lucy Laws presented her speech on 'The Toxicity of Porn' in the area finals in Cromwell.

She placed second in this and was awarded money for her efforts. Well done to Lucy for the work she invested in this endeavour.

OUTDOOR PURSUITS

Here's a great photo of Level 3 Outdoor Pursuits students on the Sugarloaf Pass at lunchtime on Thursday having just climbed up from the Rockburn Valley, (Dart River and Routeburn in background).

"CODE SWITCH"

From left to right Ruby McLachlan, Aimee Harrold, Lucy Fenton, Tayla Doran.

Here are four of the five MAC students who are taking part in the performance of “Code Switch” on Friday 19 March at the Memorial Centre in Queenstown. They will join students from the Film Academy course at Aorere College in Auckland and students from Wakatipu High school. They will workshop and rehearse for a day and then perform two to three dance sequences in the show in a public performance that evening at the Memorial Centre Queenstown at 7.00 pm. Tickets are available at https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/tour/2021/code-switch

The Film academy has received funding from the Queenstown Lakes Council to bring their work to our region so we may learn from their innovative new program and they in turn can collaborate and learn from our students. The academy run by teacher Ali Muzaffar specialises in live cinema which is a multi art form that involves the collaboration of film, dance, theatre and live music; all woven together to create an immersive art form for the audience. This is an original concept that is a new endeavour for students to take part in. All of their shows have an original script written by their members. It is an exciting opportunity for our students to be involved in.

SADD COMMITTEE 

There’s no denying that the morning school rush is chaos outside MAC everyday! The SADD committee, which stands for Students Against Dangerous Driving, spent Tuesday and Thursday morning of last week directing all parents to the drop off zone, to ensure safety to all staff, parents, caregivers, and of course, the students.

As a collective we observed and noticed lots of minor issues that could lead to major consequences. No matter how clear our signs, gestures and fluorescent vests were,  still, countless numbers of parents drove into the bus-stops for drop off. We understand that everybody has busy lives, but when it comes to road safety, especially as there are hundreds of young people crossing one road, convenience should not come first. Also, by not adhering to the guidelines, oncoming buses are forced to wait which causes even more traffic issues. Although, as part of SADD committee duties, it is our role in the school to promote safety on our roads, we shouldn’t have to stand outside and enforce these rules for them to be followed everyday.

Due to the construction at MAC at the moment, staff have resorted to parking in the old swimming pool car park (which not be accessed by students or parents) and student drivers are parking along the side of the road along Plantation Road and up on the bank. This saves a clear area for drop offs to occur.

This current situation is not ideal for anyone and it is important to think of everybody’s safety when dropping off, or picking your children up.

We hope that by reading our article you take away a few notes for next time:

• Be very aware of your surroundings

• Avoid mindlessly doing three point turns at your convenience

• Stay in the school zone 40km per hour speed limit and less than that when appropriate.

Additionally, for students especially, please use the designated crossing provided, we can’t stress it enough!

Whitney Benett and Nicole Meyer

WEARABLE ART SHOW

Year 7 have been working on some incredible creations with a theme of 'Belonging'. All creations were celebrated with a fashion show earlier this week and a lucky were selected for inclusion in the 'Runway - Wearable Art fashion show which will take place at 3.oo pm today and tomorrow in the rugby club rooms at the A&P Show.  

Congratulations to all the students on their fantastic creativity. Here are a few photos: 

CREATIVE WRITING

Here are a couple of pieces of great creative writing by some of our students.

Written by:  Mabel North - 8SNA

"The sun lit up my skin, the wind forced my hair behind me, the ocean sang to me with a sense of clarity. The wheels beneath me spun without even a whisper. Not a cell in my body felt misplaced. As the sun climbed through the sky, I welcomed a sudden urge to immerse myself in lapsing ocean waves. I smoothly yanked the handlebars towards the depths. I flicked off my shoes, but I didn’t seem to notice the departure. The sand sunk through my toes. My lungs filled with fresh sea breeze air. One after another, my legs drifted off the shore, I gracefully dived through the chilling water. Never had I felt so refreshed. Without any warning, the sand beneath my feet swept away, the current attracted me out to sea, yet I didn’t panic. I let the current take me wherever it desired, I lay peacefully on my back with my eyes partially closed. I soon realised I was right back in the arms of safety. I emerged out of the water with my hands by my side. As I peddled my bike, the sun went to sleep. I was left in the complete dark." 

A Mission With The Boys

Written by: Murphy Paterson and Liam Mclachlan 8SNA

"Liam and I have set off on a big mission in the bush. As we got there with the people that owned the land, we set up camp and set off in the ‘79 series Landcruiser we put our dog and the rifle in the back. We both have our own Landcruisers, my one is white and Liam's one is dark grey. The track is really muddy and slidey, when we get past the mud hole and the river we get to the top of the hills and ‘let rip’ on a mob of feral goats. There were about 20 goats standing on the hill about one hundred metres away. We shot about 10 and then the two dogs got one each. My dog is a German wire-haired pointer and his name is Whisky. Liam's dog is a short-haired pointer and her name is Jem. We are going down into a dark bushy gully and then let the dogs go off and find us a pig, but the bad thing is both of the dogs go in different directions so Liam goes to follow his dog and I go off with my dog Whisky and set off up the gully to the top of the hill with a big boar. The worst thing is that I have to carry it all the way up to the truck. When Liam got back he had nothing but a piglet in his arms so he put it in the back of the truck to keep. But then both of the dogs get a big fright and run off so Liam jumps in his truck and ‘drops the clutch’ and chases the dogs into the bushy gully and hits a stag and goes into a swamp and gets stuck. Liam called me on the radio and said there is good and bad news, he said do you want the good or bad news first and I said good news first then the bad news. He said “Ok the good news is I have got a stag and the bad thing is I am stuck”. Now that trip was ruthless!!