What is your role and how long have you been here?

My first year at RHS was 2009. Other than taking 2019 to be a full time stay at home parent while my son was still a baby, I’ve been here every other year. In that time I’ve taught mostly Drama and Media Studies but also had stints in English, Social Studies, various performing arts-related electives, and recently the RHS Media and Advertising Division (M.A.D.).

What is MAD? Why does it exist?

M.A.D. is an acronym for the Media and Advertising Division. MAD came about for a series of reasons. RHS doesn’t offer Media Studies as a subject until level 2 (year 12) and I found that students were unsurprisingly coming in with media creation skills that were still very low on the curriculum and they really struggled with the production side of the course. I wanted to create a course that focused solely on the production skills to try and increase the general abilities of students at RHS.
I also saw that media production was becoming an increasingly useful part of a résumé as businesses began to see value in having well made, relevant and up-to-date media on their websites. Not to mention the almost unavoidable social media presence that has recently evolved! Media Studies products don’t really lend themselves to this, they are more about training students to be able to contribute to traditional media forms, useful skills but not as useful for the average school leaver.
More than that though every year I had some very keen and talented media producers who wanted to use their skills to give back to the school. This started with the Riccarton Report, a basic news product that aims to keep the audience up-to-date with what is happening and has happened in and around our school community. It also became very fashionable for student committees to have promotional videos made for their events, and then highlight reels. As this demand grew and grew the students who were doing this work found it harder and harder to keep up with the demand. People have no idea how much work goes into making a good video! There was an obvious demand for this service and it added value to the school spirit.
We launched M.A.D. as an elective in which a student leader or leaders (now known as the Communications Directors) would run the course like a low-budget production company. Our mission statement is to promote pride and positivity in the Riccarton High School community.
We now have students leaving M.A.D. at the end of year 13 and walking straight into media production work or flying through tertiary training. I frequently have past-students telling me that what they do now is either the same as what they were doing at school or ‘the same but just… bigger.’
However, I do see the greatest value that M.A.D. brings is its ability create a constructive culture digitally that supports and feeds into the constructive analogue culture that already exists at Riccarton High School.

Why is Media Studies an important subject?

Media Studies is the analysis of the relationship between the media (all of them) and society. There are so many experts who say that the media is one of the greatest drivers of society in the 21st century for better and worse. Studying this area, to understand how it works and how we are affected by it seems almost vital. In fact, many educational academics have declared that media literacy (the ability to understand a media product - who made it, why you’re seeing it, the intended effect it will have on you and what the producer will gain from that) is right up there with regular literacy and numeracy in terms of importance for young people to understand.

What do you like about Riccarton High School?

Whenever I meet new people and we go through the “What do you do?” “Oh a teacher! Where abouts?” “Riccarton eh? Is it a good school?” routine I always have the same answer: Riccarton High is exceptional at making great people and being a good person is the best skill anyone can possess.
I love being a part of a school that does that, it shows perceptiveness in what the world really needs.

What are your hobbies?

I have two young children, they are my hobby! But if I get time I also like to get out on my mountain bike, go for a rock climb or do some theatre. I’ve also recently begun learning te reo Māori. Usually there’s only room in my life for focussing on one of these other hobbies at a time!

What brings you joy?

Before I had children I was dubious of the older male staff members who would come up and say ‘you don’t understand until you have children of your own.’ They were right. Nothing can prepare you for the joy of your children!

What do you like about working with young people?

I like the change that happens through adolescence. I hope I can help steer that change in a constructive way. I think I’ve already made it pretty clear that I think the youth we have in front of us today are the key to a better future. I like knowing I’ve done what I can to make the future better.

What’s something you are passionate about?

I think education is really really important, I’m passionate about this! So often we talk about systems being set up as ‘ambulances at the bottom of the cliff rather than signage at the top’ education is both the signage and the ability to read the signs. If education worked for all people imagine the positive effects that would have on the healthcare sector, the justice system and the economy! But it’s a slow process, I hope I can help the next generation be a little bit better than we were and in turn they will help the next and the next. I see my efforts as exponential so the more people I can affect in my life the better!

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