Joshua wins award
First Humanity Awards
Last Friday at a special assembly at Te Mata School Joshua Massingham, was recognised in New Zealand’s first ever Fred Hollows Humanity Awards.
The awards, which were open to all Year 6 students throughout New Zealand, are part of a global movement created to acknowledge passionate children striving to make the world around them better — just like FredHollows did. This humanity was deeply evident in the large number of students that were nominated for the Humanity Awards from all throughout New Zealand. One of these was Joshua, whose nomination came from his deputy principal Heather Wilkie. She wrote:
Joshua is in Year 6 at TeMata School. He is a very active member of the Te Mata School Council. Joshua is an extremely thoughtful and caring human being, always looking for opportunities to serve and improve the lives of others.
Recently he drove an antibullying campaign at our school of close to 600 children and a staff of 40. When asked about his motivation Josh said via our Facebook page . . . “Well I looked at the website and read a bit and it really takes you by surprise about how much people are being bullied. It’s crazy how much bullying there is in NZ.” Josh spoke to staff to get their commitment, planned and lead the activities, and communicated with the wider community via newsletter and video.
One of the anti-bullying activities Josh planned was the making of friendship bracelets on Pink T Shirt Day. He purchased the materials, made packs for each class and created a video to show the teachers and children how to make these. He arranged for classes to support each other, 11-year-old children working with 5-year-olds so all could succeed. The School Council ran playground games during the week that encouraged children to play inclusively.
Through his efforts, Joshua and the School Council raised over $1000 for Mental Health NZ. Josh is now onto his next project Mental Health Awareness Week 23-29th September. He is beavering away in the background planning how he can draw our awareness to this great cause.
Meanwhile, Josh is also working with the School Council to run a school disco in a fortnight. He has been busy painting bandannas in his lunchtimes and taught the Council a dance to perform at assembly next week to advertise the disco. Everyday Joshua looks around and says “how can I usemy strengths, my talents to serve others?” And he does it in a quiet unassuming humble way. Te Mata School is so proud of Joshua and know he is going to be a New Zealander that makes a difference to the lives of others.
Joshua Massingham is congratulated for his award at Friday’s school assembly.