This week, we received a letter in the mail inviting our school to apply for the 2015 APCC project and send up to six students to Fukuoka Japan for the Asian Pacific Children's Convention.
We are very excited to be applying for this opportunity and are hard at work filling in the application and putting a process in motion for students to apply for a chance to be one of the six students who, should we win a place at the convention, will attend on our behalf.
I know at that end of the day, that any student we select from Tamaki Primary School would do us proud at this convention. The chance to mix with a range of like minded students at an international event, in a completely new and different environment is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For many of our students, an event like this is something they could only dream of and yet they share the same potential, same dreams, same aspirations as other children who through their good fortune of being born into a life of ample opportunity, are given these experiences as they grow up.
In a previous life, I taught at a private school in the Pacific Islands who regularly had students selected to attend the conferences. Each year, at least two children from our school would go and what an experience they would have. I remember tears of joy from one student who couldn't believe she could be so lucky as to be picked to go to Japan. These types of opportunities are very rare and even more rare for a young Pasifika student to experience.
The benefits of these events are immense and should not be underestimated. To have their eyes opened to new experiences, new foods, new cultures, new environments, new languages and to forge new friendships is life changing for many. Our school recently took a group of students to Waitangi on an all expenses paid 4 day excursion to learn about the history of Waitangi and the role the treaty has had in the formation of our nation. This was sponsored by Westpac and was the 'trip of a lifetime' for the students and teachers involved.
It's wonderful to know that there are organisations out there that are pushing the envelope for the sake of 'all children' - poverty or not - providing experiences for those who don't always get the opportunities some take for granted, and to see that there is a big wide world out there and no-one is confined to their circumstances growing up.
My fingers are crossed that our students are accepted to participate at this conference and get the opportunity to represent.
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