Year 6 students making biscuits at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti are (from left) Scarlette Ngarimu-Brown (St Mary's Catholic School), Beauden Greaves (Makauri), Harry Newman (Motu), Monty Nikora (Central), Ted Bousfield (Ormond), Ayla Jarden (Ormond) and Franca Williams (Rere). Photo / Rebecca Grunwell
Year 6 students making biscuits at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti are (from left) Scarlette Ngarimu-Brown (St Mary's Catholic School), Beauden Greaves (Makauri), Harry Newman (Motu), Monty Nikora (Central), Ted Bousfield (Ormond), Ayla Jarden (Ormond) and Franca Williams (Rere). Photo / Rebecca Grunwell
A group of 27 students spent Tuesday morning helping out at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti as part of the Aurora Education Foundation leadership programme.
The kaupapa is about stepping up and giving back, says Aurora executive director Sunny Bush.
The programme is a “gifted education programme promoting high-potential children and, as such,it comes under the umbrella of our Aurora Empathy in Action concept,” Bush said. “The focus is on service leadership within the local community.”
The group was split into two, with one lot making up bags of basic biscuit mix, stapling the recipe to the outside and putting them into food boxes.
The second group packaged up butter sachets and other food items for the boxes.
“It’s good for our young leaders to see how an organisation like SuperGrans operates and what it does for the community. It also encourages them to volunteer in future,” Bush said.
SuperGrans Tairāwhiti is a social services agency that has been operating in Gisborne since 2003.
It supports whānau in hardship by helping them to help themselves and gain greater control over their lives.
The support is offered through a life skills programme, cooking workshops, budgeting advice and mentoring.
Aurora students helping out at SuperGrans included (from left) Amore Kotzee (Makauri School), Rawhiti Roberts (Hatea-a-Rangi), Harper Maaka (Motu School), Rihi Mahaki (Ngatapa), Mariu Mackey-Gilroy (Muriwai), Ellie Houkamau (Te Hapara) and Lachlan Reeves (Te Karaka Area). Photo / Rebecca Grunwell
Sophie Trafford, from Tolaga Bay Area School, said everyone loved to give back to the community and do their bit to help others less fortunate.
Scarlette Ngarimu-Brown, a Year 6 student at St Mary’s Catholic School, said part of the leadership programme she particularly enjoyed was meeting and listening to “VIP speakers”.
“We had waka ama champion Hine Brooking, as well as prefects from Lytton High School, Gisborne Girls’ High and Campion College. It was really good.
“We’ve also been learning about different leadership styles,” she said.
The Aurora programme is funded by the Ministry of Education.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded a one-year contract extension from the Ministry of Education for the delivery of a diverse and exciting gifted education programme,” Bush said.
Fourteen schools took part in the Gisborne-Tairāwhiti leadership programme, and this was the first year it was offered to East Coast schools.
It now covers Gisborne-Tairāwhiti, Wairoa and the East Coast.
The foundation’s mission is to promote young leaders identified by schools as having unique gifts, special talents and high potential in a wide range of curriculum areas.
