VOLUNTEER WEEK FEATURE STORY
Three high schools in the Thames Valley and Hauraki areas are running different initiatives to encourage students to volunteer in their communities.
Students from Waihī College, Thames High School and Hauraki Plains College talked with The Profile about the volunteering efforts with their schools.
Waihī College hosts a volunteer group called the Leo’s Club, which runs in conjunction with the Waihī Lions Club. Community Leader and president of the Leo’s Club Sabine Rush said she had been with the group for a few years and the numbers had “rocketed” this year from five people to 30.
The year-13 student said she loved the Leo’s Club and wanted to get lots of students involved by promoting and putting notices out: “and now we have this massive group”.
The Leo’s Club helped out at the Waihī Lions Book Fair on King’s Birthday weekend by sorting books and setting up tables. With “hundreds and hundreds of books” donated every year, Sabine said it was one event the Lions needed help with, especially lifting all the boxes.
The group was also preparing for the Keep Waihī Beautiful Clean-Up, Sabine said. “Clean ups are so important. We love helping out with that.” For students interested in joining the Leos, Sabine said: “it just makes you feel so fulfilled”.
“I love volunteering. I love helping the Lions. I know that they appreciate our help everytime – and everyone else does, the community does.”
Meanwhile, Thames High School students have been putting their hand up to volunteer in the community by joining a new initiative called the Student Volunteer Army (SVA).
Year-13 students Ari-Ella Reed and Caitlin Jones are the facilitators of the SVA and have hit the ground running with 64 new recruits, with an even mix of boys and girls from year 9 through to year 13. Caitlin said it was cool seeing people get excited about volunteering.
Thames High career adviser Leanne Ardern said the group was a positive initiative that brought the school together.
She said Ari made a list of 15 volunteering opportunities where students could find something that interested them. Some of the options included: The Blind Association, SPCA, Land, Search and Rescue, and the recent grand opening of the Porritt Park playground.
Caitlin and Ari’s main goal was get the group up to 100 members, they said. “It’s the legacy we want to leave at Thames High.”
When asked if they will carry on volunteering, even after they finish high school, the leaders said: “Definitely… anywhere we can, we will”.
Across the Plains, five students from Hauraki Plains College took part in a native tree planting project on their teacher’s farm, alongside Hikutaia School students, who grew the trees from seedlings. Year-12 students Ayden Dird, Kyson Drewet, Connor Yeager and Hamish Foster are seasoned volunteers, and part of the group who spent a day planting 700 trees on their teacher, Bronwyn Dyer’s, land.
Mrs Dyer said the planting was along 300 metres of the length of a service drain, which linked to the main drain for the Hikutaia stream.
Some of the varieties planted were: Ti-tree, Cabbage, Ginger Wood, Ribbon Wood, Kauri, Titoki and Coprosma Karamu.
Prior to the planting, Mrs Dyer said one of her neighbours saw a penguin swimming up the stream. “It shows the importance of planting along water banks – they soak up nutrients.”
Seventeen-year-old Kyson said: “it was really cool that we got to work with the younger kids, learning about why we need to plant the trees”, while Ayden said the kids didn’t ask many questions – they were just busy planting.
The cabbage trees and grasses could handle wetter ground, down on the lower parts of the bank, Connor said.
“They thrive in the muddy water”.
Connor said his motivation for doing this volunteer work was being outdoors, “getting amongst it” and helping out the community.
