We are One

At the beginning of 2021 Kobe Northmore, Rice House Kaitiaki, and the Year 13’s all meet with me to discuss how we wanted to remain the top house. Immediately and without hesitation the boys knew that working as one was the best approach to remaining successful.

The best visual of RICE house in action was at both the swimming sports and athletic days, where, RICE house stood out amongst the rest. During every chant and haka performed, the heart and passion that each RICE man displayed, you felt. You could feel the pride. You could feel how invested each young man was to sing, chant and show what being a RICE house man was about. The sound was strong. It rippled through the other houses with lyrics that made sense, yet true to who we are. The best part though, was the sight. The boys all stood together. They stood as one. And there was a clear difference between how we approached these events and it was seen. The message was simple “we are one”.

Across term 2 we had, clothing collections, food collections, Shave for a Cure and to finish the term, Special Character Week. Every day in Special Character Week, we meet as a house and learnt the Tongan hymn, school haka and Kobe’s chant. We are so grateful to have cultural diversity within one house. While, we know that it’s not common for a house to take out all three aspects of the final day of term, we turned our attention to being consistent. We wanted to strive to consistently be the best across all areas. Tevita Faitotonu was an outstanding Year 12 representative who taught the RICE men the Tongan Hymn with great support from Joesph Ripley. Tevita, Joseph, Eruera Keelan-Jackson and Zavier Hughes-Harema were great leaders of the haka with Finn Keogan taking charge to make sure the kaupapa of Maori culture was respected. And then we had Kobe, creating a chant that meet Mr Hart’s brief and summed up what being a RICE man is about. Overall we took out 2 seconds, 1 third and Tevita was given awarded the title for best Kaiako.

Unfortunately, Term 3 has been a bit of a hurdle with another COVID lockdown, but I want to acknowledge ALL the school leaders for their efforts to connect. Having such strong leaders across all areas of our school, highlights the strength of STC as a collective.

Lastly, I just want to take the time to thank Kobe for his efforts. It is never an easy task to be given the role of House Leader and the mahi (work) that Kobe has put into the legacy of RICE as number 1 hasn’t gone unnoticed. Thank you to you and your team. You have done yourself, me and the RICE house cohort proud.