Whanganui East School students get soaked for Cancer Society

There was a soaking wet mud run and a sausage sizzle at Whanganui East School on their superhero mufti day.

The day was organised as part of the Student Volunteer Army (SVA) primary school programme and all proceeds are going to the Cancer Society.

"We want to help save people's lives," Whanganui East School pupil Ruby Hoekstra said.

"We chose a mud run because it's fun and exciting. We did one last year and it was really good."

Students were tasked with crawling through water underneath a camouflage net at the start of an obstacle course. Photo / Stuart Munro

Ruby was chosen to be a platoon leader along with Dior Wiari by teacher Stacey McKenzie-Hofmann.

"They wrote an application and I liked what they said they could bring to the table. I thought 'let's give them a shot' and they've done super well," McKenzie-Hofmann said.

"They had badges and hi-viz shirts which they wore most of the week on the playground. If anyone had any questions, they didn't have to ask me they could ask them."

Local firefighters got in on the action, parking a fire engine on Tinirau St and spraying water across the obstacle course set for pupils to take on.

They had to run through the spray, crawl under a camouflage net, step through hula hoops, leap hurdles and finish with a superman dive down a water slide.

One of the highlights for students was the dunking machine.

"It was a bucket where students threw tennis balls and if they hit the target, the water came down and saturated the staff," McKenzie-Hofmann said.

"It was cool having the teachers on board. We had Mrs Barry the principal first up, which got lots of students coming in to dunk her. She took it like a champ."

Whanganui East School students slide over the finish line while having fun and raising funds for the Cancer Society. Photo / Stuart Munro

This is the second year for the SVA Foundation programme. More than 32,000 students from more than 1000 schools took part in separate events.

The SVA was created in a collaboration between the University of Canterbury and one of its students Sam Johnson.

Johnson had created a Facebook group called the Student Base for Earthquake Clean Up after the Christchurch earthquake in 2010 and its support skyrocketed.

As well as platoon leaders, McKenzie-Hofmann was tasked with naming community liaisons, community officers and more.

She said it was a good opportunity to fundraise and to teach the pupils.

"It helps students with their leadership and communication," McKenzie-Hofmann said.

"They were calling people on the phone which is always nerve-racking. They were stepping up and it really gives them a chance to grow."

The school received a $50 New World voucher and Pak'nSave donated 200 sausages and bread which all sold out for the Cancer Society.