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The News
Thursday October 15 2015
Award recipients . . . Russell Smith (centre), Bruce Andrews (second from right) and Jonty Beddoes (standing at right).
School founders recognised
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Rangiora New Life School paid tribute to those who founded the school nearly 40 years ago, at a special assembly on Friday, September 25. Principal Stephen Walters says this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Rangiora New Life Church, which founded the school 36 years ago with a Christian vision of ‘‘sacrifice sacrifice of time, sacrifice of resources and sacrifice of energies’’. Four of the school’s founders, John Ward, Russell Smith, Colin Smith and Kevin McCormick, attended the special ‘‘Founders’ Day Assembly’’, where the inaugural Founders’ Day Awards were presented. ‘‘These will be awarded annually to the student, staff member and community member who exemplifies the vision of the founders of the school and has in some way sacrificed time, resources or energies.’’ Mr Walters has interviewed some of the original founders to learn some of the history of the church and the school. ‘‘All those years ago, the church started with house groups. Later on the groups met in the War Memorial Hall and at other times upstairs in the ‘Upper Room’ in the Coffee Culture building in Rangiora. As the church grew over the years it also spanned with Thrive Church being considered a ‘sister church’.’’ The land where the school now sits was purchased for $55,000, but was ‘‘overgrown and not as neat as it is nowadays’’, Mr Walter says. The land and buildings now has a replacement value of around $16
million. The first students attended classes at Leigh Camp, at Loburn, until the first building was built in 1979 and opened in March 1980. This is now the church foyer, kitchen and toilets. The Rangiora New Life School opened on its present site in March 1980 with 16 secondary school students. The school has since grown to nearly 400 year 1 to 13 students and Mr Walters says just last week he sent off a request to the Ministry of Education to grow the school roll by another 130 students. ‘‘These people had a vision for children to learn and grow every day in a school where they walk with God on a daily basis and this has been achieved. For the church, the school has become a fiveday a week ‘evangelisation outreach’ into the whole community.’’ Pastor Stan Stewart says new honours boards will be erected in the foyer of the school’s events centre to recognise head students and duxes, as well as notable former students, including Jacinda Baker, who lost her life while serving with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan. Founders Day Awards: Russell Smith one of the founders. Bruce Andrews who is largely responsible for the condition of the grounds, with its plants, shrubs and roses. Jonty Beddoes ‘‘the gotostudent for sound and lighting for any art, drama or music performances’’ and the school website. A special award Ariel Pons, the top year 13 student in New Zealand in this year’s University of New South Wales competition for writing.
Dylan chasing dream on air Attending a school holiday programme has helped a Rangiora student work towards a life long dream. Former Rangiora High School student Dylan Bateup (20) has his own weekly show on Compass FM after completing a ‘‘Master Class’’ broadcasting school holiday programme organised by the Waimakariri Youth Council, WaiYouth and Compass FM in July. ‘‘It was heaps of fun. I honestly thought it (the master class) was going to be quite boring, but they really made it for younger people. ‘‘It was quite amazing. I came back to get a reference for CPIT from Mike (Le Petit, Compass FM manager) and he got me to read a community notice on air. Then after I did that he came and said ‘we have a slot available on Fridays, are you interested?’. I was a little blown away, but I took it.’’ Dylan now has his own show on Fridays from 12pm to 3pm and has applied to do the Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications degree at CPIT from next year. While songs are chosen from Compass FM’s database, Dylan says he is ‘‘slowing adding a bit of content of my own’’ and he gets listeners involved by encouraging them to phone or text into the studio. Long term he would like to be an announcer for stations like The Edge and ZM, which appeal to a younger audience. ‘‘It’s not just the music, but the voice breaks I find them quite funny. But this (Compass FM) is a step in the right direction. ‘‘When I was a little kid I always loved music. My Dad gave me a tape deck and I would always record myself and I called it
Live on air . . . Dylan Bateup is enjoying the opportunity to be on air at Compass FM. Dylan FM and played shows to my parents and whoever was listening.’’ Dylan also makes his own videos of youth events and other items of interest which he uploads on to his own YouTube channel, which has around 400 ‘‘constant viewers’’. He earns about $150 to $200 a month from YouTube, from advertisements played with his videos. He also has 1000 followers on his Facebook page, where he gives regular updates about his YouTube videos and when he is on Compass FM. ‘‘It’s amazing how many people care people seem to like to see what I’m doing. It’s blown me away. When I was at Rangiora High School, some of the younger kids came up to me and said ‘you’re Dylan Bateup’. They had seen my YouTube videos and couldn’t believe I was one of them.’’