Emma Brown, Award CEO, shared her admiration for the rangatahi and their journey, saying: “This Award is about more than just personal success - it's about making a lasting impact. Each of you has shown that when you set your mind to something, you can inspire change not only in yourselves but in the world around you. We're excited to see where your journey takes you next!"

A huge thank you to Chris Allan from Joshua Foundation. Your dedication to these rangatahi has been nothing short of extraordinary - your guidance has empowered them to achieve greatness.

The A.K.C group this year has had an environmental chapter which has involved fortnightly litter pick ups around the school and has run most of this year. A small but dedicated group has assisted with this service to our kura and upholding our uara of tūrangawaewae. This has helped build students' awareness of waste, working in teams and contributing to the community. We have found a range of interesting items from airpods, stationery, tent poles and much more. Our caretakers have noticed a considerable difference to the school grounds and have appreciated this additional help in maintaining our school.

The AKC Enviro members in 2024 are; Jared Guibao, Manuel Olita, Kelli Hollis, Lena Norton, Georgia Kieboom, Pieta Chamberlain and Saaleha Almaas. In early term 4, we celebrated by having an end of year afternoon tea with pizza.

I wish these young people all the best for their summers and am grateful and proud of their efforts this year. Ka rawe and well done!! 

Miss Kate Munro

Near the end of the year we celebrated our cultural diversity. It was a fabulous day, highlighted by traditional costumes, music, dance and pride to our cultures.

Vietnam, 2024

It starts with Christchurch airport. Some of us know it like the back of our hands, others have never been through the baggage claim, all of us are there ready to depart on an experience many don’t get in their lifetimes, let alone high school. Twenty students, three teachers, mixed feelings all around. Three airports, three flights, and a good deal of stress away from Vietnam, where we will be spending the next two weeks. After nervous goodbyes to loved ones, we start moving our way to our first flight of the journey; the first flight ever for some of our troupe.

Once we’re in Auckland, we venture to the international terminal, where we’re going to be parking up for the next several hours. The clock ticks on, hour upon hour filled with fast food trips, bored wandering, and completing an airport bingo, before finally 1 in the morning rolls around and we’re departing for Singapore airport. After 10 hours of turbulence, attempts to sleep, and some impressive film-bingeing, we stumble our way into Singapore airport, many of us getting a first-ever view of a foreign country in the flesh out the windows. The atmosphere outside is dripping with greenery and rich colours, the airport itself an ecosystem of sights, smells and sounds. We all herd onto a shuttle that moves on outdoor rails between terminals, getting hit by a wave of warm humidity scented like a mix between a 

rainforest and wet concrete. This was our first taste of South East Asia, but after a three and a half hour flight, we were finally in Vietnam. Vietnam was somewhat a fever dream at times, the warped rush of streets lined with new sights and sounds. Welcomed by our tour guide, Thomas (a professional title, he had worked with enough foreigners to get used to his own name being butchered) we clambered aboard the tour bus that would be our vessel for our explorations.

Our first night felt hallucinatory, welcomed by a tangible chaos only found in this part of the world. After we were briefly familiarised ourselves with the Old Quarter, an infamous neighbourhood of Hanoi city (deeply influenced/created by the French during their colonial era of the country’s history) where our hotel was. The streets were lit up with vibrancy, a sensory overload of moped traffic, street food, and foliage under a light drizzle of warm rain, a perfect textbook introduction to the climate and region.  Our first dining experience in the country was in the second largest restaurant in the country, an expansive buffet by the name of Sen Tây Hồ which hosted an unimaginably large variety of food options. A portion of the group were eager to try anything and everything new and exciting, where some felt more comfortable sticking to the familiar rather than indulging in grilled sea snails and other challenging but stimulating new foods. 

Each city and landscape we ventured through boasted its own unique experiences, food, sights and sounds. From the authentic and bustling Hanoi to the respectful peace of temples and rural memorials. The trip melted together wordly education with fun, giving us the opportunity to relish in rich cultural experiences and history of Vietnam while experiencing the diverse and captivating scenery the landscape had to offer. The experience was deeply enriching, from a western perspective not much is learnt about South East Asia in schools except the usual tales of colonisation and wars, but to see a land filled with stories beyond our own culture’s expectations and understandings was an adventure that will not be forgotten anytime soon. 

Thomas guided us through each leg of our journey with care, wisdom, and humour. He was deliberate in his communication when discussing each location, telling facts before delving into the deeper contexts. We learnt about the Vietnam known by the locals, experiencing it in the flesh, not from a Lonely Planet article or a school textbook. During all of this, he remained a humourous figure who genuinely made us feel like his friends. The rest of our trip after Hanoi consisted of more adventures through iconic locations, such as a cruise through Halong Bay before taking an overnight train south, where we explored Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh city over the next week and half.

We visited landmarks such as the site of the tragic My Lai Masscare in 1968, where we had the great privilege to speak with a surivivor of the massacre. We explored the Cu Chi tunnels, used by the Viet Cong to evade enemies during the Vietnam War, paid visits to temples and memorials, constantly sponging up the nation’s rich history. We spent our final days on the Mekong Delta, travelling much by boat and seeing some more grim sides of Vietnam’s labour culture in a pottery factory. Each experience held importance and balance, much to the credit of Thomas’ masterful guidework.

Before we know it we’re in the final stretch of our journey. Everyone is ready to return, cups have been filled, but some are at the point of overflowing. We navigate airport after airport, drained but happy, until finally we make it back to Christchurch into the arms of loved ones ready to take us all home for a well-deserved shower and rest. I believe this experience was one that defined each of our group’s highschool experience, as it is not a common opportunity to explore a new country surrounded by your peers. 

Milo Henderson