The Star: June 30, 2022

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The Star Thursday June 30 2022 20 NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz From YouTuber to ‘full-out’ journalist • From page 19 As Nick pivoted to dangerous destinations, he was aware of the risk and that his family sometimes worries, but he insists he takes all reasonable precautions. “Of course, I always have common sense. I use a local fixer who has grown up there and speaks the language. I’ve had some amazing people take care of me. When I was in Venezuela, we would be walking down a dangerous slum and my guy Lenny would always be looking behind us. I’ve met some of the most amazing people on my travels this way.” He insists there is not a single country on Earth he wouldn’t be willing to visit. For any aspiring filmmakers his advice is simple: “I would say you have to just go. You just must go out there and make all the standard mistakes and take bad video and gradually get better as you go along and learn.” Nick was in Hungary where he lives with his girlfriend of five years when the war in Ukraine broke out. “I’ve been to the country about five or six times. I’ve always loved Ukraine and its people. They are always so welcoming and chilled out, which is not always the case in this part of the world.” We had reconnected the previous year after I’d watched his videos about the crises in Lebanon and Venezuela, which I had reported from in the past. My mum, who used to help supervise our old school camps, connected us after I sent her a link to one of his videos. He reached out when he was planning to come to Ukraine. When we met for beers at one of the recently reopened bars in Kyiv it was perfectly pleasant and completely surreal. Nearly 20 years had gone by and here we were in the middle of a war zone trading old stories about people we’d known in what felt like a different lifetime on the other side of the world. Nick’s first two videos in Ukraine are trips through WAR ZONE: Fisher and Mutch in Ukraine. Below – Fisher interviewing Mykola, who was born at the outbreak of World War 2. PHOTOS: TOM MUTCH/NZ HERALD the reopening of Kyiv and the suburbs of Irpin and Bucha that were the scene of serious war crimes. It is full of evocative and moving moments. He warns his viewers as he steps into Bucha: “I’ve been told to watch my step for booby traps that the Russians might have left.” Looking around at the destruction he tells us: “It is really quite hard for me to convey how many bullet holes there are here… every building I can see here is destroyed.” But his best skill has always been allowing the residents of places to tell their own stories and putting himself in the story as an observer rather than the protagonist. An elderly woman he interviews who lived under the Russian occupation tells him that “your heart and mine are close”, asks if he is married and promises he will have a “lovely bride” one day. But while the Russians had been pushed out of Kyiv, we decided to see the real war in a place that was still under heavy fire and tell the stories of the civilians sheltering from Russian artillery and the soldiers defending their homelands. On the train to Kharkiv we scrolled through social media, checking out old friends and classmates now scattered around the world. There was Ann Yoo who had married my best friend from high school and had just given birth to their first child. There was Alex Upjohn Beatson, a machine learning engineer living in the US, and Michael Vink, a pro-cycling champion. “It would be so cool to do a roll call now to see what everyone is up to,” Wade told us later. And that was how we found ourselves outside a deserted farmhouse in eastern Ukraine on the frontlines. The carcass of a destroyed Russian tank lay in front of it and on the field behind us a Russian helicopter had been shot down. We could hear the crack and boom of the artillery duel that was taking place all around us. Russia had captured these villages in the first days of its offensive when the city of Kharkiv was expected to capitulate. Instead, the Ukrainians repulsed the invaders in a desperate battle at the gates of the city. Since then, the Russian army had planted its artillery and pounded the hell out of Kharkiv. We met a man in his eighties named Mykola who was born at the outbreak of World War 2 and grew up on his parents’ stories of the fighting. “This was worse than World War Two,” he tells Nick, describing the awesome power of modern weaponry that thundered around him. We didn’t have time to discuss what our teacher would have really thought before one of the Ukrainian army soldiers accompanying a young lieutenant named Leila came over to us and told us to stay alert. “Stay here and if anything happens take cover in the bar. The Russians could locate our artillery and fire back on us at any moment.” And in the middle of a short clip of Nick talking to the camera describing the scene, another rocket barrage streamed over our heads in the background. I checked his camera: it had been one of those rare moments of lucky film-making magic. The most liked comment on his new video is, “You’ve developed from a regular travel YouTuber to a full-out modern-day journalist. Your progress is massive.” His latest video on Ukraine is the fastest-watched video he’s had on his channel. Wade still remembers him as the kid she made run so many laps in phys ed that he threw up on the classroom couch. —NZ Herald Teacher says Fisher was ‘a strong, determined young lad’ • By Chris Barclay NICK FISHER’S interest in Genghis Khan while studying in Jude Wade’s class at Cobham Intermediate meant his former teacher wasn’t totally surprised when an email arrived from the Ukraine. It in, Fisher asked if Wade, now Jude Garrett, a hub teacher at Oamaru Intermediate School, had any photos he might be able to use in the story written by Tom Mutch (pages 19-20). “When I got the email I remembered Nicholas – he was always Nicholas – absolutely,” said Garrett, who taught Mutch and Fisher in 2003 and 2004. She oversaw a teaching philosophy dubbed Inquiry for a 34-strong class which, where possible, gave students “more say in what they did and how they did it”. “We did a lot of stuff out in the community. One of the inquiries was around heritage, we looked at old buildings and Shakespeare,” Garrett said. “We did a challenge and crisis one, we went to the Civil Defence headquarters, we went to the City Mission and did volunteer work.” It was a learning environment where Fisher thrived. “It [Inquiry] created a pathway of what they wanted to learn next and I vividly remember CAREER CHOICE: Jude Garrett started teaching in 1997 and spent nine years at Cobham Intermediate before returning to her home town, Oamaru. Nicholas not being swayed to join any other group,” Garrett said. “He set up his own inquiry about Genghis Khan and what he was like as a leader. “The parallels are vaguely there. Now he’s off doing these amazing things, he’s making his own path in the world. “He was quite a strong, determined young lad who knew his mind and wanted to do what he wanted to do.” Garrett also recalled Mutch as another student “that walked to the beat of their own drum”. “They were those kind of kids, it doesn’t surprise me they’re off doing these things.” With a personal connection to Ukraine, Garrett admits she now views the media coverage through a different lens, as two former students willingly place themselves in danger to document the conflict. “It’s pretty frightening. Whenever it comes up on the news I’m looking at the photos . . . they’re doing something that’s incredibly scary, the world needs people like that,” said Garrett, who taught at Cobham Intermediate between 2002 and 2011. “I often say to kids, they are the leaders of the future, they’re the ones making a difference in the world and these boys are a prime example.”
Thursday June 30 2022 The Star 21 Villa Maria College Learn To Prize What Is Of Value “RaFT” wins Ōtautahi regional title TeRm 2 UPdaTe House Sports day: colourful, loud, fun! After some changes in Term 1 due to Covid restrictions, we were delighted to be able to hold our annual House Sports Day in Term 2. It gives all the girls the opportunity to connect with others in their House and Ako, and have a day of fun - all with the aim of earning House Points. The students competed in various activities, earning the all-important House Points along the way. Activities included long and short distance running, sack race, long jump, basketball and a water activity. As is Villa tradition, the day finished with our famous Spiral Relay, which sees the entire College compete in a colourful circular relay – a sight to behold! Congratulations to Year 13 students Ruthie Atherton and Flora Tafili, who have been named the Ōtautahi regional winners of the Programming Māori and Pasifika Potential competition, with their idea “RAFT”. The competition focuses on solving problems using digital technology as a solution. At the regional final, groups from schools around Ōtautahi shared their business proposals and prototypes to a panel of judges, which included representatives from Air NZ Marketing, Datacom, Microsoft Indigenous and the Ministry of Education. Ruthie and Flora’s concept is RAFT Education - Te Moana-nui-a Kiwa, The great Pacific Ocean that binds us together. RAFT is an educational tool targeting high school, tertiary students and teachers on the forgotten, incorrect and neglected parts of Māori and Pasifika history that is significant to New Zealand. “We created a website/app that creates an interactive learning environment for those wanting to learn about events such as, The Treaty of Waitangi, The Mau Movement, Dawn Raids, and Parihaka. We created a platform where people can share their perspectives that have been passed down, through iwi, through villages and so forth,” explained Ruthie. “We wanted to create this tool for people learning about Māori and Pasifika history. They can come to our website to be introduced to different perspectives. We want everyone’s voices to be heard.” As well as being the Ōtautahi regional winners, Ruthie and Flora also won The Kōwhititinga Tangata Award (Community Choice Award). The girls will compete at Nationals in Napier later in the year, where they will further develop their business plan. The national winners will receive seed funding to bring their business to life. Swimming: Villa named Top Girls’ School Villa Maria College has once again won the award for Top Girls’ School at the Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Swimming awards. Hope Chmiel took out the award for Outstanding Female Swimmer, and Bridie Quayle was named in the Outstanding Junior Swimmer Awards. These accolades follow our swimmers’ incredible results at the Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Swimming Championships. Congratulations Hope and Bridie, and all our Villa swimmers. Year 12 Retreat at Living Springs This term, our Year 12 students spent time at Living Springs for their annual Retreat. Retreats are an important experience for our students, where they spend time connecting as a group, reflecting on themselves and their relationship with God. On this Retreat the students involved themselves in a range of activities that included Lectio Divina, formation around the Sisters of Mercy and our College Charism, yoga, and a variety of team building and personality tests to help them as they look to expand on their Christian leadership roles in the College. Bullying-Free New Zealand Week Bullying-Free New Zealand Week was held in May in conjunction with Pink Shirt Day. The week follows the theme He kōtuinga mahi iti, he hua pai-ā rau: Small ripples create big waves. At Villa, each Ako group was challenged to make a small ripple so that across the College we felt a wave of kindness and anti-bullying attitude. A wide range of initiatives were undertaken and brought a lot of positivity to the College. This picture shows one of the ways in which kindness was shown, by the creation of a rainbow of positive messages. Villa’s runners shine at CSS Road Race Villa had a number of students compete in the recent Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Road Race. Our runners had fantastic results, including an impressive 1st place for Amelia Henstock in the Year 9 race; and 3rd place for Kobe Maslin also in the Year 9 race. In the Senior Girls’ race Bridie Restieaux was 2nd and Rosaria Gibson 4th! Villa also won the school teams Year 9 and Seniors races. Great results in the CSS Cross Country Villa’s runners competed at the Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Cross Country championships earlier this term. Congratulations to Amelia Henstock, who came 2nd in the Year 9 Race, and Kobi Maslin who came 5th. In the Senior Girls’ Race, Bridie Restieaux came 3rd, and Jarrah Prentice 12th. Keeping our community warm this winter Villa students are helping to keep those in need warm this winter, by donating a vast amount of good quality blankets, winter clothing and jackets to the Society of St Vincent de Paul. The donated goods have been distributed to families in need who may be struggling to keep warm this winter. Lola represents Villa at aNZaC day ceremony Pictured here is Year 8 student Lola O’Connor with her grandfather, Paul O’Connor M.B.E. at the 2022 Halswell ANZAC Day commemorations. Lola was asked to play a part in this year’s ceremony by reading the Flanders Field poem. She did a beautiful job on the day, and we are very proud of the way she represented our College at this important occasion. 21 Peer Street, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8041 Phone: 03 348 4165 www.villa.school.nz
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