Highlights from Wellington College • THE COMMUNITY
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n 1998, after previous years of largely unproductive attempts at starving 1500 boys for 40 hours to raise money for World Vision, the decision was made to rejuvenate the World Vision 40 Hour Famine at Wellington College, to create a fun and active event that the whole school could get behind, and the Runathon was born.
shown throughout.
Fruits of Labour
The Runathon is a student-led event that continues for 40 hours. Wellington College boys run laps of the 800m short circuit around the school, supervised by College staff - with many participating. The students are encouraged to ask family members, neighbours and friends to sponsor them for their efforts.
The Big Blokes Breakfast
Since 1998, Wellington College has raised over $600,000 for World Vision, with the money we have raised going to our project of helping kids less fortunate than us, in Ibwera, Tanzania. Earlier this year, a group of students, led by staff member, Ben Lau (1994-1998) and Chris Jupp (2002-2006) travelled to the village of Ibwera. The region’s aid is entirely funded by World Vision New Zealand and in part by Wellington College’s Runathon, to visit the places where these funds are used and see exactly what the money means for the many thousands of people in the area. On the final day in Ibwera, the group split up to visit the various children that some in the group had sponsored before the trip. This provided a personal connection for the trip, to place a name to a face out of the many hundreds of children that they came into contact with.
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n June, Wellington College Mothers’ Inc hosted its second ‘Big Blokes’ breakfast, a very happy occasion where almost 250 men and students enjoyed a delicious start to the day. Fathers, grandfathers, uncles and others all enjoyed the morning and many big ‘Big Breakfasts’ were consumed. The blokes were addressed by Tony Robinson, our new Development Manager, who emphasised the relationship between fathers and sons as being the core of any society. The breakfast provided a great informal opportunity for all to meet fellow blokes of all generations before heading to work and class and in typical style, there wasn’t too much in the way of leftovers.
History Repeats Itself
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ast term, the Board of Wellington East Girls’ College was placed in the difficult position of having to close their historical main building due to serious concerns about the structural integrity of this facility in the event of a moderate earthquake. The safety of their staff and the students were of course their main priority. With Headmaster, Roger Moses overseas at the International Boys' School Conference, Deputy Principal, Dave Ashby approached the WEGC Principal to offer any assistance we could, considering the very difficult situation they found themselves in with nine classrooms down and the loss of their Assembly Hall. After discussing the urgent needs with our neighbours, we offered the use of our Pavilion, Firth Hall and Brierley Theatre for a three-week period at the beginning of Term Three while negotiations continued with the Ministry of Education for prefabs to be set up on the WEGC site. Allowing access to WEGC in class time had very minimal impact on classes for our boys and there was no intention to have joint classes nor any other interaction between the two student bodies. The girls continue to be taught by their regular WEGC staff but in our buildings.
Stage One of the College’s new artificial surface got underway in late September, with the number two field being closed off to students to allow for the earthmoving machines to clear the top layer of the ground in preparation for Stage Two. While the boys have lost ground space and parking for the last term, the benefits in 2012 will certainly outweigh any inconvenience this year.
We have as a school, a chance to offer some of our wonderful facilities to our state school neighbours who are experiencing a very difficult time in their history. As regards to our history, Deputy Principal, Mr Rob Anderson reminded me that during WWII, many of our classes were taught up at WEGC due to a number of our male staff being absent, serving in the war. THE LAMPSTAND, 2011 • 31
News from the College
Students are split into ten teams, each with a different sponsor. Every time a team member completes a lap, as well as raising money, he earns his team a point. The points are tallied on a board set up at the start/finish line which creates a strong competitive spirit among the students, encouraging them to run the most laps and earn the most points and money as they compete for the Lendrum Shield, which was donated by Head Prefect, Chris Lendrum who started the Runathon in 1998. This contributes to the huge success of the event and has the full support of the College with immense school spirit
The Runathon is a massive event in the school calendar, and is more than just a ‘big run.’ There are other events and competitions, leading up to the big weekend, such as the ‘dinosaur game,’ and the ever popular milk-scull. It is a hugely popular event every year, and a great way for some of the newer boys to see what the spirit is all about.