Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
He’s putting the cool into school
Teacher and rapper, it’s a success-story recipe for reaching out and connecting with enquiring young minds Optimistic sailor set to do SA proud
ATEACHER from Atlantis is putting a new spin on educating young minds.
Rupert Makka, 26, is a Grade 8 maths teacher at the town’s high school, Atlantis Senior Secondary, and his formula for keeping students aware of matters which affect their daily lives is winning him a string of adoring fans.
Makka is a rapper. He expresses himself through music – and he absolutely loves hip hop.
“It started as a hobby when I was in high school, but it’s become a passion of mine,” said the man from Mamre, a town just outside Atlantis.
Makka’s passion eventually led to the release of a song. He performs under the stage name Chazer.
Through his rap music, Makka is hoping to disprove an age-old stereotype among young people – that teachers are uncool.
While he is a solo rapper, Makka also belongs to an Afrikaans group known as R.E.A.L. (Ready to Engage and Lead).
His lyrical themes are centred on social issues, but with R.E.A.L. he tends to be more lyrically diverse.
“I get inspiration from everywhere, stuff I read about, what I see on TV, pretty much anywhere.”
Makka has released several songs and told Weekend Argus about his favourites: Hoe Jy Wil Lewe (How you want to live) and Wat Ga An Vedag (What’s happening today?) for which he has released a video on YouTube.
“There’s a really long list of people who inspired me to do what I do,” said Makka.
His musical influences include local outfit Kallitz, an Afrikaans rap duo from the Cape Flats and Isaac Mutant, also from the Cape.
Makka says his students are among his most loyal supporters.
“They are big fans of my music. They encourage me daily, so I hope I can be an inspiration to them,” he said. THE forecast wind forecast for Wednesday was hectic – 50 knots.
That has a special meaning for sailors as they rely on wind to power their crafts and it is a remarkable experience for them to head out with strong winds.
That’s why with school cancelled for the day, Alex Falcon, 13, decided to go sailing.
Alex sails for Zeekoevlei Yacht Club and is part of a team of five Optimist Dinghy sailors selected to go to Thailand next month to represent South Africa at the Optimist World Championships.
The Optimist is the most popular dinghy in the world and the craft that most Olympic sailors began their careers sailing. About 200 000 are estimated to have been built since 1947, when it was designed to introduce children to sailing.
Alex and his teammates train three times a week, but the weather on Thursday was not suitable for normal training. However, Alex could not turn away from the chance to sail in a storm and headed to the Imperial Yacht Club in Zandvlei, Muizenberg where he took his boat out for a onehour sailing session.
It turned out to be a challenging sail. The measured wind speed peaked at 45 knots and in some of the squalls it was not possible to see the other side of the lake through the heavy rain. But he made it safely back to dry land and home in time for tea.