THE WILLIAM PIKE CHALLENGE

Darfield High School (DHS) has partnered with the William Pike William Pike William Pike William Pike Challenge this year. This programme will help prepare tamariki for the Challenges that they will face tomorrow - today! Approximately, 150 Year 7 students from DHS will get the opportunity to be part of this programmein2023. Students will learn skills needed to cope with the unexpected and develop strengths they didn’t know they had. Children need to step outside of the classroom to really develop skills such as leadership, responsibility, creativity, social skills and communityinvolvement. Students will develop passion projects to build focus and commitment. Giving them the framework to make choices and decisions, then develop and implement actions to bring their projects to fruition provides an essential foundation for later in life.

Manystudentswhocompletethe William Pike Challenge find their relationships with fellow students, teachers and even parents improve because they learn di erent approaches than with what they grew up with or areusedtocurrently.

With the William Pike Challenge, students are challenged in ways that simply can’t be achieved inside the classroom. It’s strength lies in taking students outside of their comfort zone to solve problems or deal with situations they never expected, but at same time they have fun doingit!

William Pike’s love of exploring the great outdoors began at a young age and was developed further at Westlake Boys’ High School where he was an avid sportsman - a three-time national water polo championanddevelopedazeal foroutdoor pursuits. In 2006, William graduated with a Bachelor of Education with first-class honours and began a fulfilling career as an Auckland primary schoolteacher.

A year later, on September 25th, 2007, William climbed Mt Ruapehu with a friend, James James James Christie Christie Christie. On their way back down, in fading light they decided to stay the night in the Dome Shelter. That evening, Ruapehu erupted. It shot an epic amount of rocks, water and mud down its slopes, crashing violently onto their hut. Crushed and critically injured, William hung onto life while James ran downthemountaintogethelp. Almost 24 hours later, William woke up in Waikato Hospital and although he survived, his right leg had to be amputated below the knee and he faced a long, gruellingrehabilitation. William learned to walk again with a prosthetic limb, he returned to teaching, returned to Mt Ruapehu and he now lives lifefullofadventure.

What William eventually learnt from his Mt Ruapehu experience was, when you’re faced with challenge and change, success or failure comes down to one thing - whether you are already prepared to step outside your comfort zone or whether you’re not.

DHS are looking for community groupsthatwouldliketosupport this great initiative. Each student has to complete at least one passion project, this is a sport or hobby that they have not tried before. If anyone in the area is interested in helping please reach out to am@darfield.school.nz

Parents, students, supporters and community groups are invited to meet Williamand hearabout his life journey and the programme he has created, on Thursday, March 9th at 5.30pm in the Darfield High School Hall. There will be refreshments and a light snack afterwards. For catering purposes please RSVP to: sport@darfield.school.nz

A special thanks must go to the Westview Special Fund for helping DHS make this fantastic programmeavailablethisyear.