Activity 3: Concluding the Journey

1. Which activity did you enjoy the most? This is my favorite activity of all of them, because I really enjoy being able to reflect and talk about my amazing Journey with the programme this year.

2. Which activity did you enjoy the least? There wasn't a single activity that didn't serve a purpose or meaning. I've learnt something from each one, that took lots of effort. So I don't have an answer for this one.

3. Three things you've learnt while completing the programme? I've learnt a lot more about climate change, and what is happening to our environment. Another thing is about the current wild fires in New South Whales which is actually impacting a lot of Australia. And lastly is quality over quantity, as I focused more on my learning rather than just getting all the activities done in a day.

4. What changes/improvements you would make to the programme for next year? A update for the programme might be to create a list of names with a link to their blog, of those who have registered to the Summer Learning Journey. This would help a lot because I don't know what schools, what classes, or even what students to look at in the cluster and it's really difficult to find them by myself. A change I would make to myself is try to look at more schools out of Panmure Bridge School too.


Sadly, this concludes the Summer Learning Journey for 2019-2020. It's time to reflect on everything we've learnt, and enjoyed this year with the programme. I've had a lot of fun with other participants, and the Manaiakalni team! I absolutely loved the theme this time, and looking at change makers. And my one piece of feedback is that the website has really improved and things are easier to access and locate. Best of luck to everyone in the cluster, and I hope you have enjoyed my blog posts (-:

Activity 2: En Pointe

                              

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." is a simple, but meaningful quote from Albert Einstein. I think it's the gateway to happiness and growth, as straight-forward as it is! To me this means...using yesterday's mistakes, accidents, and mishaps as a beneficial thing to improve today. And wishing for the same thing to happen tomorrow, and etc.

In this activity we look at one of the most successful ballet dancers, Misty Copeland. She started taking lessons at 13 years old, unlike most ballerina's who started from 3-4! But Misty worked really hard to become the first African-american lead dancer of the American Ballet Theater. This title was an amazing earning for her, as there aren't many African-american ballet dancers in their country. "I want them to be able to see dreams through me." - quoted from Misty in one of her interviews, which is one of many inspirational quotes. We were asked to look more into quotes like that one, and choose one off a list of 25 to create a text graphic/poster. This one I chose was from Albert Einstein, speaking on past, present, and future.

Activity 1: The World of Hip Hop

I think the dance and performance was amazing! It's so satisfying to watch everyone in sync and on beat with the music. The songs were appropriate and popular as well. Some of the dance moves were very complex, which got a great reaction from the audience. I really like the outfits because it was bold, bright, and stood out. There is always room for improvement, but I personally can't nitpick anything that needs to be better. It was really well done I would say. The one biggest thing they did well was the performance all together, it must've took a lot of practice and I didn't catch any obvious mistakes.

In this activity we looked at Parris Goebel, a very famous New Zealander, known from all around the world! Parris always had a passion for dancing, ever since she was a child. She grew up to create her own all-girl dance crew, ReQuest at the age of 15 which was very successful. Now in Auckland she started "The Palace Dance Studio", and created five more dance crews! In 2019 Parris and one of her crews, The Royal Family, won the World Hip Hop Dance Championship. We were asked to watch their performance, and give a review - What did/didn't we like about the performance? What did the crew do well? What could they work on/improve? And include details like the dance, dancers, costumes, music, etc.

Activity 3: Top Secret Street Art

In this activity we learnt about an artists from England, named Banksy. He creates street art, although not many people know about him. We took a deeper look into street art, which is seen a lot in New Zealand. The art can be telling a story, or really just be something to look at. Street artists in Christchurch are taking this chance to make the city look beautiful again after they experienced a massive earthquake causing destruction...So we looked at a whole bunch of Christchurch street art on this website, which had some amazing work! We had to choose two different paintings, and identify their differences and similarities.

Activity 2: Try Your Own Tapa

Above is my Tapa design. It's looks very simple, but definitely represents quite a few things important to me. In the middle is a cross, symbolizing my pacific culture, Tonga. But the stripes going across it come from the American flag, which is also part of who I am. The 7 stars count the people in my family -The two biggest stars being my parents, and the 5 small stars as me and my siblings. The stars repeat and creates a pattern through out my Tapa like the bear icon, which is very common in most designs. I'm a Virgo (Zodiac), and the bear is my animal sign. The basic layout of my Tapa (the two boarders and the 9 squares covering the face) come from many other designs as well.


In this activity we looked at a Samoan artist who lives in New Zealand, named Fatu Feu'u. He is a great artist, known for creating paintings, sculptures, pottery, prints, and glass work. His work is influenced by traditional Tapa cloth patterns, tattoo's, weavings, carvings, and mask designs. But a lot of pacific cultures have their own version of "Tapa", and we looked more into this by visiting a few sites. The task was to create our very own Tapa design, whether it be on paper or online! You can read more about what I created above. I really enjoyed this activity because I get to use and show off my digital art skills again, but I also really like how mine turned out.

Activity 1: Fashion forward

What happened to their company was a few years ago, when their name used to be "Love Lies Bleeding". They realized it was actually copyright from a whole different company in the US. They didn't have the ability to get into a legal fight, so they ended up having to change their name. In a session of deciding for a new name, they had wrote a list of people who helped and supported their business. The idea of "Twenty-Seven Names" tells a story, and pays recognition to those 27 people.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personally I really like their clothing brand name a lot, and it has helped create a very successful business so I think they shouldn't change it. Changing their name before definitely brang a lot of attention, but I find their 'new' name a lot more interesting. It has more meaning, and is a great way to represent their brand and to be acknowledging of those 27 people who supported their business through out, and helped their label.


In this activity we looked at a New Zealand fashion label called "Twenty-Seven Names". The founders of the business had been friends since primary school; Rachel Easting and Anjali Burnett. We also looked at an article about how some of New Zealand's famous brands got their names from, including "Twenty-Seven Names". We were asked to share how they got their name and whether we think it's a good name for them and if not, what they should change it to. The top paragraph is backstory on "Twenty-Seven Names" and the bottom half is my opinion. I like their name, and don't any better suggestions for them.

Activity 3: Feast or Famine

Yes, I would definitely consider doing a 20 or 40 Hour famine if I was able to! It would be a great feeling over all to experience and participate in that. It's a great example and influence on others, to show some random act of kindness by raising money for the charity. It's a great way to be supportive too, because we actually make a life-changing difference. I really think World Vision and the 40 Hour Famine is extremely beneficial and impactful. It would also be a big accomplishment, and a life experience!


In this activity we looked at funny actor from New Zealand, named Julian Dennison, who is only 17 years old. Besides starring in a couple of movies and commercials, he has joined up with 'World Vision' to be a 40 Hour Famine Ambassador, travelling to Uganda to meet some of refugees from South Sudan! Then we were asked if we would or wouldn't participate in a 20 or 40 Hour Famine like Julian. Personally, I went with yes because it is a big help and shows my support to them. Read more about my personal opinion and thoughts in the 6 sentences above!