Student businesses on show at Young Enterprise trade fair in Kerikeri

Sky Gundry, 16, runs a surf school aiming to empower young women by exposure to surfing and the ocean. Photo / Supplied

Student businesses offering everything from children's books and rongoā lollies to surf lessons and guided horse treks will be on show at a trade fair in Kerikeri next month.

It will be the first public outing for students taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), in which budding entrepreneurs create an innovative product or service, market it to the public, and end the year with a profit or loss.

YES Northland co-ordinator Gary Larkan said he expected about 150 students, from Bream Bay to Kaitaia, to showcase 50 businesses during the August 14 event at Kerikeri's Old Packhouse Market.

This year's businesses included a fitness/healthy eating app, books designed for children with autism, rongoā (traditional medicine) lollies, horse treks in the hills around Panguru, and jewellery made from pounamu off-cuts.

Some students have also displayed marketing initiative by approaching the Advocate to promote their business ventures.

Sky Gundry, a year 12 student at Kerikeri High School, has combined her love of surfing with a mission to empower young women.

Her company, Sky's Surf School, aimed to build a community of confident Northland wahine through exposure to the ocean and regular surf lessons.

Her lessons, at Taupō Bay and Matauri Bay, encouraged growth through risk taking as well as better understanding of the natural environment.

She started in May and had so far taught girls aged 6-14. She planned to expand to adult women after fielding many inquiries.

Sky, 17, said she had faced challenges on the business side — creating a business plan, for example — but overall running her own surf school had been an enjoyable experience.

''It's been super-fun and really rewarding seeing the girls so happy and learning new skills.''

Mastering a new skill such as surfing could boost confidence in other aspects of life, Sky said.

Pipi Johnson-Phillips, 16, has started a business publishing books promoting New Zealand sign language and care of the environment. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Another year 12 student at Kerikeri High, Pipi Johnson-Phillips, has published a children's book promoting use of New Zealand sign language.

She was inspired to start her business, Pipi's Books, after an encounter with a customer at her weekend job in a cafe.

''She was using sign language and I couldn't understand her. She got quite frustrated. If sign language was taught at primary schools, there'd be more social inclusion.''

The 16-year-old said New Zealand sign language was not widely known outside the deaf community, despite being one of the country's three official languages.

Her book used English text with key words in sign language illustrated by photos.

It told the story of a whale shark's woes caused by eating plastic, with photos by her uncle Adam Jones, a Kerikeri-based wildlife documentary maker.

Pipi said the project, and balancing it with other schoolwork, was difficult but had taught her about time management, sign language and how to format a book.

All products and businesses will be on show at the YES Trade Fair from 8am-1.30pm on August 14 at the Old Packhouse Market, 505 Kerikeri Rd.