I te taenga mai o te hunga rangahau taitamariki ki te hui Pūtaiao o Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā, i puta ko Te Kererū Kaiwai Kelly-Mather, he ākonga nō te Tau Tuaono o Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai. Ko tana kaupapa e hāngai pū ana ki te whakatika i te oranga o te harakeke.
“Kua tae mai ahau ki tēnei kaupapa te kaupapa Tūkohu Ngāwhā, i te mea e tino hīkaka ahau kia mahi i tēnei mahi, i te mea ka tāea koe te whakātu i ō mahi pukumahi, i ō mahi mai i te kura, kia whai wāhi tō kura ki roto i te mahi pūtaiāo,” hei tā Te Kererū.
“Ko te harakeke tō mātou kaupapa, te whakaora i te harakeke me te whakatipu i te harakeke kia whai wāhi ngā ngārara me ngā mea iti, paku, mo tētehi kāinga kei roto,” hei tāna anō.
“He kōrero mihi tēnei i te mea, ka whakaako rātou i a mātou kia mōhio mātou, kia whai whēako mātou ki tēnei mahi… ināianei e mōhio ana mātou i ngā mea katoa o te harakeke, ehara i te mea ko ngā mea katoa, engari e maha ngā mahi, nōreira he mihi tēnei.”
Ko te kaupapa harakeke a Te Kererū tētehi o ngā kaupapa 78 e whakawāngia ana e te kāhui whakawā o Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā.
Pūtaiao and Mātauranga Māori combined to grow future kaitiaki
The annual Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā science fair continues to prove that when Mātauranga Māori and pūtaiao are woven together, the results are nothing short of transformative. For the students involved, this event is more than just a competition; it is a vital platform for showcasing solutions to real-world environmental challenges their communities face.
“This is my second time here judging this kaupapa, and it’s really hard because all of the tamariki have such cool projects amongst all the divisions, like bio-diversity, bio-security, conservation. It makes it really hard to pick a winner when they have all put so much effort,” Tūkohu Ngāwhā judge, Siobhan Nuri said.
“I went home and I told my dad that maybe we should create an award and so he was like ‘yup lets create an award to encourage the little tamariki to keep on being excited about the taiao, to keep on being champions for it,” she said.
“I think it’s super important that the kids are getting outside, are getting involved in the taiāo, they are seeing problems that we have there and they are trying to come up with cool solutions or ideas to help restore our taiāo or help with the conservation of some of our taiāo species”.
For the educators involved, such as Lisa Te Whare, the Science and Technology teacher at Mokoia Intermediate, the focus is on legacy and building resilience. She believes this event provides the necessary bridge for the next generation to tackle complex environmental problems.
“We understand that some of the environmental problems of today aren’t going to be solved in our lifetime, and we need to set up avenues and opportunities for our kids to be able to converse in these subjects,” Te Whare said.
“We invite all schools in Aotearoa to consider this as an avenue, as we are the only science fair that holds Mātauranga Māori, right up to the word ‘Science’,” she said. As the event continues to grow, it is clear that these students are not just learning science – they are learning how to be the kaitiaki that Aotearoa needs for the future.