"We are the bilingual capital of New Zealand and so what better place to lead the Māori sign language."
She said while at the beginning the students were resistant as they didn't want to look like "weirdos" the day ended with piles of laughter.
Vercoe-Black said Māori sign language was more contextualised than what it is in English and even "Kia Ora" was not as simple as a wave.
"They had to go up to one person in hi-vis as part of their tasks, and when they went up to him he was looking really sad but when he saw them dressed in book characters it just made his day.
"It was neat because they all enjoyed bringing joy from a Māori perspective to locals and people that aren't from our city.
"We just wanted to remind them that teaching should be fun."
Dressing as Matariki was Tania Kiel who said the highlight of her day was the whānaungatanga she experienced of her team working together.
"What I really enjoyed about the rotarota activity was witnessing the genuine enthusiasm of the people, who were random strangers, we were teaching.
"They were fully engaged and noted their appreciation."
