I am lucky enough to have some amazing teachers at my school who do amazing things with my students. This Saturday I got to see firsthand some of those amazing things at the Koanga Festival at Bucklands Beach Intermediate. Our school's Kapa Haka group was performing and I made sure that I would make it, having two of my students in the group. I had seen the performance a day earlier, but wanted to go to show my support. The students were amazing in their performance! Even better than the day before (though, the lighting and the larger stage no doubt helped that). Their hard work was clear and evident.
It was nice to be invited to this and to get a chance to experience life outside of school with my students. Being a foreigner (taking all your jobs and such) I have to admit ignorance when it comes to many things Maori. This was a positive way for me to learn a bit more and to help build those relationships with some of my students (even if one of them told me he didn't want to smile for the picture). As an added bonus, three of my students have brothers or sisters in Kapa Haka and I got to see them outside of the normal classroom setting.