Waiopehu College toasts 50 years
Labour weekend celebrations a perfect party
Labour weekend may just be another long weekend off work for some, but for Waiopehu College it is time to look back at 50 years of education opportunities.
A team of past pupils and staff have been working for some time to put together the perfect party.
Current college board chairwoman and past pupil Jenny Warren, past pupil Leone Coutts, who chairs the organising committee, and current (and past) staff member Kaye Fraser are keen for you to hear more about what they have planned. They are part of a small but committed team working behind the scenes to make this weekend happen.
It will all start at 4.30am on Friday with a pōwhiri, with events planned that evening as well as all day Saturday. Groups of past students are then planning their own parties for Sunday, including playing a golf tournament.
They are expecting a few hundred people, coming in from around the country as well as Australia.
The big moment will take place on Saturday with the planting of a tree in honour of the school’s second principal, Colin Hagan, who passed away recently. His widow, Rae, will do the honours.
The tree will be centre stage of a new outdoor garden space near the student cafeteria, made even more special by the fact that it is being constructed by past students.
The school has been around long enough to have seen at least three generations of some families through its doors. In the build-up to this jubilee year, student designer Morehu Tauru designed the tohu, or emblem, that is on the 2023 sports uniform. The name of Tohu is Te Hōkioi — Whakaete Turanga Rau, meaning the future is full of potential, which the artist said was fitting for a celebration year.
“Thanks to efforts by Matthew Good, the director of sports, local businesses and grant organisations have sponsored this uniform as well as raising money to allow students to participate in sports for free this year. As a result participation in sports has gone up from 36 per cent to 51 per cent,” Warren said.
The school building was opened in June 1973, and was built by the Fairfield Brothers, with Horowhenua College doing initial enrolments for the new school and also played a governance role for a while.
“The school happened because the population was booming and Horowhenua College could not accommodate the influx of students. Now in our 50th year the town is booming again.”
Among notable students who went through the college were a number of sportspeople, such as Carlos Spencer, Rosanne Chee, Rebecca Moynihan (swimmer) as well as current council CEO Monique Davidson.
Waiopehu is ready for a new generation of students who would like to be part of the future of the college.