Tuivasa-Sheck is a hit at his old school
Mayfield Primary School’s most celebrated old boy, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck went back to school last Tuesday.
The visit from the lad who left his Otara school for Papatoetoe Intermediate in 2004 and returned 13 years later as a celebrated Kiwi and captain of the Vodafone Warriors, may have been brief.
But the welcome from awestruck students and a hand full of beaming teachers who taught him was warm and friendly
The assembly sung the school’s Pasifika Welcome Song and were struck to see Tuivasa-Sheck singing along with them. In exchange the rugby league legend regaled students with memories of his time there.
He told of how he got all nostalgic driving down Pearl Baker Drive, seeing all the houses, the streets he used to walk; the shop where he’d stop to get something to eat and drink on the way too and from school, of planting a tree in the school yard and how he and his mates would sneak to a hidden corner of the school and play rugby because the school rule stopped them from tackling.
He even mentioned how lucky they are to wearing uniforms.
‘‘When I was going to school here we didn’t have uniforms. We just turned up in what we had - mufti. But it’s now awesome to see that the school has a nice logo, the place is looking nice and the kids have uniforms.’’
Principal Dubs Rai says staff were thrilled to see how the boy had become a man.
‘‘Today we celebrated the success of teaching and learning but more importantly, the value of strong human relationships. With Roger’s amazing success in rugby league, we all feel the glow of success because of our school connections.
‘‘We would like to wish Roger