Whanganui Collegiate students help out at Bushy Park Tarapuruhi.
Whanganui Collegiate students help out at Bushy Park Tarapuruhi.
Last Wednesday, 175 Year 9 and 10 students and 45 staff from Whanganui Collegiate School mobilised to various areas throughout Whanganui and its outer reaches for an important reason — to help others.
The list of people who were helped by these students and staff was impressive and included plantingin Castlecliff, working at Bushy Park, performing music at rest homes and baking for Women’s Refuge, Birthright and The Salvation Army.
Both Gordons Park and Pauri Lake were also cleaned and tidied up at the hands of the students and gardening was done at Age Concern. These were only some of the places that the students went to make a difference. This symphony-of-service was conducted by Deputy Headmaster Grant Muirhead.
“Our Community Service Day does take a lot of planning and logistics can be quite a challenge, but when you see the level of gratitude, and the positive impact on the students and our community, it’s always worth it,” he says.
“Whanganui Collegiate School is one of three Round Square Schools in New Zealand: a key feature of Round Square schools is the expectation that all students will engage with local and wider communities through voluntary service activities,” says school Headmaster Wayne Brown.
“Through defining and promoting a Spirit of Service, Round Square schools promote responsible social action that is based on a deep understanding of challenges and issues faced by individuals and communities in need of support throughout the world.”
Whanganui Collegiate students help out at Bushy Park Tarapuruhi.
At Whanganui Collegiate School, each House chooses a different charity to support each year, and all have a charity week dedicated to raising funds for their charity. This year alone they raised more than $40,000 for charities like Canteen, Whanganui Hospice, Mental Health Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Kidscan and Downs Syndrome Association. Add to this the $39,000 they raised in The Relay for Life this year and that is a sizeable contribution to a lot of causes.
That is something that they can feel very proud of, but more importantly, Whanganui knows that they are available to help if it’s needed.
