MAC takes out the top three spots at the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme Southland regions event.

Year 13 students in the college’s Level 3 Enterprise course are once again participating in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme as part of the Southland Region. This year we have 41 students who have formed 9 start-up businesses. Students are developing and taking to the market a variety of sustainable and innovative products, including gardening kits, wool insoles, ski wax kits, fire starters, tree guards, shampoo bars, utility boards, phone cases and planter boxes. Students are engaged in a range of entrepreneurial experiences to develop skills that will help in their future careers, while also gaining valuable life skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, negotiating and the importance of taking calculated risks.

Students will spend the year competing for Regional Excellence Awards and aiming to be the Southland Regional Company of the Year. Recently, the nine companies pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges in a dragon-den style event at Highlands Park. Mount Aspiring College took out the top 3 spots in the Southland regions:

• 1st: Tipu Garden kits

• 2nd: Wae Wae

• 3rd: Slippery Sausages

Enterprise is part of the Social Sciences Learning Area in which students in Year 13 complete Business Studies Achievement standards through running their own start-up businesses. It is a practical business course where students put into practice the business and economic theory they have learned in previous years by running a business for the year.

Well done to all teams that participated and a special thanks to the Wānaka and Southland Business Chambers for their ongoing support.  

Look out for students' amazing products in a shop near you in Term 3.

Hayden Paddon Award: Level 1 Mechanical Engineering

Our connections to our community are fundamental to the success of our school, providing our students with opportunities across the full spectrum of activities both in the classroom and beyond.

Champion rally driver Hayden Paddon and his team from Central Otago, have helped transform a Level 1 mechanical engineering 12-credit internal assessment into an engaging workshop project that students value, thanks to the 'Hayden's Choice' award.

In this assessment, students are tasked with producing a gear stick that is both functional and demonstrates outstanding craftsmanship, with the resulting gear sticks competing for the Hayden’s Choice award, judged by Hayden himself. 

This year’s deserving winner of the Hayden’s Choice Award is Ari Drake. As the winner, Ari receives a merchandise pack and also gets a lap around Highlands with Hayden Paddon in one of his rally cars! Runners-up were Ashley Beaton and Sienna Dunlop, who both received a goodie pack of Paddon Racing Group merchandise.

Thank you to Hayden and his team and to everyone involved in making learning a rewarding and enjoyable journey for our students.

Outdoor Pursuits

Our Outdoor Pursuits subjects give our students personal and social development through adventurous and challenging activities in a variety of environmental and social contexts, and through a mix of theoretical and practical instruction. Recently, some of our Level 3 Outdoor Pursuits students travelled to Aoraki | Mount Cook where they had the opportunity to do an alpine hike to Mueller Hut.

New Zealand Cyber Security Challenge

Congratulations to Year 13 student Tane Haines who recently competed in the qualifying round of the New Zealand Cyber Security Challenge, achieving second place in the high school category and 17th overall from a pool of 444 competitors.

 The competition covers a range of cyber security disciplines, including  cryptography, reverse engineering, web application security and binary exploitation.  

As a result of his excellent performance in the qualifying round, Tane has been invited to compete in the next round of the competition which will be held at the University of Waikato in Hamilton in July.