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Getting hands on with science creating ‘good scientific citizens'
Getting hands on with science creating ‘good scientific citizens'

NZ Herald

time16-07-2025

  • Science
  • NZ Herald

Getting hands on with science creating ‘good scientific citizens'

Cunningham said getting more young wāhine involved in stem requires them to have people they can model themselves after. 'If they see somebody in there that's succeeding then they tend to go 'oh yeah I can do this too.' In my earlier years teaching science it was all textbook stuff and I just looked at the kids and they just weren't engaged or anything.' As part of the fair, the school's Year 9 and 10 classes work as part of a collective on a pilot programme called Manaaki Mauri, which involves the ecological restoration of the Sanatorium Reserve, a nationally significant geothermal landscape on the edge of central Rotorua. 'So the long-term goal is to get it back to what it was before the human impacts and so most of our projects revolve around that,' Cunningham said. Students have the chance to look at plastic pollution and its effect on native species in the reserve, including the endangered tarāpuka or black-billed gull and a colony of long-tailed bats, she said. Students from Rotorua Girls' High School with their projects at Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair in 2024. Photo / Supplied, Te Arawa Lakes Trust Giving students the chance to engage in hands-on science out in the field helps to create 'good scientific citizens', she said. 'I've watched these kids go from 'I can just litter anywhere, it doesn't affect me' to actually thinking more about our effects that we have on our taiao [environment]. 'With that connection comes immediate engagement because it's real, it's not going away, it's not fairytale atoms and chemicals... it's actually robust and real for them.' Cunningham said she had absolutely seen more of an interest in science from her students since they began to enter the fair. Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā has given the teachers an avenue to teach science through Papatūānuku and through mātauranga Māori, she said. 'Rather than teach to the curriculum, actually make it real and engaging for our young people, especially our young women, because they are going to be the ones that in the future need to look after our whenua and taiao.' Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā event coordinator Keeley Grantham. Photo / Supplied, Te Arawa Lakes Trust Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā event coordinator Keeley Grantham said engaging with students directly was often the best way to get them involved. 'I think the best way to get any young rangatahi, but especially young wāhine, involved is actually just having a kōrero to them from our perspective as wāhine in science. 'To showcase that it's not just this scary environment of labcoats and Bunsen burners and that science is much broader than that, you can be out in the field, you can research a whole heap of different things and having that face to face engagement and showcasing them things in the field is what I find has the biggest impact.' Grantham said that since the fair began five years ago, there has been a gradual increase in the number of young wāhine entering, but having Rotorua Girls' involved specifically has really given it a boost. 'This event is growing every year, I mean we've got nearly 250 kids coming along to the event next week to actually participate and share their ideas, so that's 250 minds combining to look at issues in our taiao.' Grantham acknowledged the effort from the tamariki who have entered projects in the fair this year, as well as kaiako (teachers) and whānau who support them. -RNZ

Anzac Day in Rotorua: Love and remembrance at 110th anniversary service
Anzac Day in Rotorua: Love and remembrance at 110th anniversary service

NZ Herald

time25-04-2025

  • General
  • NZ Herald

Anzac Day in Rotorua: Love and remembrance at 110th anniversary service

Reverend Tom Poata officiated the service which included guest speaker Angela Swann-Cronin, formerly of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Rotorua-raised Swann-Cronin (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata) was the first Māori woman to become an air force pilot. She retired in 2009 after a 13-year career and now flies 787s for Air New Zealand. In her address, Swann-Cronin talked of love. 'Love is not always the word we associate with war. When we think of the battlefield, we think of hardship, loss and suffering, but when we look past the medals and the uniforms, we find love at the heart of courage,' she said. 'When the first Anzacs stepped on the shores of Gallipoli 110 years ago, they stepped into the unknown, but they did not do it alone.' Swann-Cronin spoke of the soldiers who stepped forward as one bound by duty but 'driven by love'. 'Love for their mates, love for their homelands and their families back home. 'Love is what brings us here today, we gather not just to remember loss but to remember what was given.' Swann-Cronin addressed 'keeping alive the memory' of her tipuna Hēnare Kōhere, who died at the Somme in 1916. 'Anzac Day reminds us of not just sacrifice but of the values we must uphold - courage, compassion, comradeship, commitment and aroha. 'Aroha mai aroha atu - let love be given and let love be returned.' Patience Lister from Rotorua Girls' High School and Harrison Roberts-Brake of John Paul College spoke also. Patience stood proudly as she addressed the hundreds who turned up to commemorate those who served. 'We gather to reflect on a significant day in our history, a monumental event in the history of New Zealand, which will not be forgotten.' Lister, a representative of the Rotorua Army Cadets, said she stood before the service with great respect for those who had worn the uniform before her. 'Anzac Day is a reminder of the responsibilities that we have to uphold as citizens, to uphold the legacy of those who came before us,' she said. 'We all have a role to play in shaping the future, embodying the same spirit of courage, responsibility and respect for our ancestors.' Harrison Roberts-Brake painted a picture of what the young soldiers who 'faced torture' experienced to 'supply us with freedom'. 'Oh, to be 18 and free,' he said. 'For thousands of Anzac soldiers who would've been a similar age to me, their dreams were paused, exchanged for the promise of glory and honour. 'Their valorous sacrifice is the foundation of our country today, their legacy shaped our modern world.' Roberts-Brake commemorated the late Sir Robert 'Bom' Gillies - the longest surviving Māori Battalion soldier who died in Rotorua last November. 'What Bom valued is exactly what our Anzacs fought and died for. 'Today, we evaluate how we can carry on the Anzacs' legacy, not just through memory but through action.' The 110th Anzac Day was the first without the late Sir Robert Gillies. 'This is a call to honour his legacy, all we really need is a little aroha,' Roberts-Brake said. 'We must recall not only what we've lost, but what we've gained.' He said there was an abundance lingering in Sir Robert 'Bom' Gillies' legacy, and there was a duty to promote a world where peace trumps pride. Roberts-Brake concluded his address with a question to those attending the service. 'Will you answer the call to honour his legacy?' The crowd stood silent for the Last Post as the New Zealand flag was raised. Laying of the wreaths took place during the service, and pipers from the City of Rotorua Highland Pipe Band played and the Rotorua Municipal Brass Band. Tapsell closed the ceremony. 'We acknowledge the veterans who have joined us today, we have such gratefulness and warmth in our hearts for the service of not only you, but your families and the sacrifice that you, your brothers and your sisters have made over the years.' At the end of the service there was a special performance by Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue honouring Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies (February 14, 1925 – November 7, 2024). 'As you can tell by their tears in their eyes and the love in their voices, this not only meant a lot to perform this today, but it meant a lot to dedicate that song, and today, many more years to come of memories of Sir Robert Gillies,' Tapsell said. 'May we not only acknowledge our loved ones on the 25th, but may we acknowledge them every day in our hearts.'

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