TE PAHU CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

Well guys, YOU DID IT! The 2014 Te Pahu Challenge is complete! It has been so good watching you guys take this on. There were some big fears overcome, some real growth is positive attitudes and some great learning in all sorts of areas. You can be proud of yourselves. Attitude does really determine your altitude. With each challenge you face in life you grow and you have grown a lot this year. Well done. Here is a video of the challenges.

Extension - Mt Pirongia

Because of the weather we changed our extension from Mt Tongariro to Mt Pirongia. What an awesome effort guys. You had to fight mud, tiredness, steep rock with chains, as well as rough and rooty terrain. I was so impressed with your positive attitude and determination. Some of you had to really dig deep. You can all be proud, and I am sure you slept well that night!

Debating

We have had a couple of awesome debates in class. The topics were:

NASA's budget of 17 billion could be better spent on earth.
The positives of technology outweigh the negatives.

The students researched the position they were given and then we had an animated debate. There were fingers pointing, animated gestures, strong tones, counter arguments, and thoughtful ideas - all the good elements of a debate. It was so great to see them critiquing each other and really thinking about both sides of the issue. On both debates we kept discussing it long after the debate was closed. The debates were very even and I think a number of people changed or at least modified their personal opinions.