Over the course of last week, year 3 to 8 students from Holy Family Catholic School in Wānaka endeavoured to help the local community by carrying out a range of ‘Student Volunteer Army’ projects. 

The projects were said to be inspired by a recent ONE Summit conference in Wānaka, which covered the 17 goals of the United Nations and aided them in identifying the key areas of need in the community. 

“They took to the streets to volunteer their time to make Wānaka a better place. Students were involved in many activities including weeding, at Bullock Creek, Stoney Creek and the Hāwea Wave, visiting the elderly at Enliven and Elmslie house, helping at local preschools—Pinnacles, Little Wonders and Montessori—picking up rubbish at the lake, helping with local pest control, and in-house support for community members which involved cleaning, lawn mowing, wood stacking and sweeping,” said Holy Family Catholic School teacher Janis Sandri. “Through these activities, students were learning a range of lifelong skills, including being organised, managing self, collaboration, communication, problem-solving and respect for others.”

“We learnt how to work better in groups when we made our bird feeders out of coconut shells. We hung at the lakefront and hope the birds use them,” said Lyla Craig (10).

For Genevieve Wallis (9), initiative saved the day. “We tried to contact Cat Rescue and wanted to help them but we found out they had no base, so we made a Christmas tree that people could donate cat food for. It was hard at the start to get organised, but it felt good when we got it all together.”  

Darlene Thomson, activities coordinator at Aspiring Enliven Centre said, “I just wanted to say how great both groups of children were today.  The juniors made many people happy and did lots of games etc. The seniors (under the wonderful guidance of Lily) were so independent and fabulous.  Many of the residents prefer to spend their time in their rooms but once the kids arrive even they come out —  especially where singing is involved. You should be very proud of them.”