Getting a taste for their future

Last Thursday (19 October) around 200 Year 9 and 10 ākonga from schools around the maunga visited WITT Te Pūkenga to get a taste of the programmes on offer at WITT.

“We know that people often don’t know what’s available at WITT and they are wowed when they get a chance to have a taste of what we have first-hand,” says WITT Te Pūkenga Marketing and Events Coordinator Samantha Legge.

Whether ākonga are making their subject choices and thinking about their post-secondary futures, or are planning a Secondary Tertiary Pathway (STP), the taster event showcased the range of programmes WITT has to offer and the careers they can lead to.

"Days like this offer invaluable experiences for our young men, they are able to draw on these positive experiences to help them make informed career decisions.  The boys were full of praise for the tutors and what they learnt in the workshops. We look forward to continuing to work with WITT and provide more opportunities for our young men," says New Plymouth Boys’ High School Head of Department Future Pathways Aaron Lock.

As part of the taster day, ākonga could choose from one of 10 workshops that were designed to give them a chance to get hands-on in their area of interest. The workshops included arts and design, exercise and sport, hair and beauty, hospitality, IT, nursing and wellness, primary industries, environmental and outdoors, the trades, engineering and automotive.

“Our tutors got really creative and set up engaging activities that allowed each ākonga to have a go. I saw ākonga changing the chain on a chainsaw, computer coding, preparing a meal for lunch, screen printing, hair styling and more,” says Samantha.

New Plymouth Boys’ High School ākonga Khyber MacDonald has always had an interest in hospitality and he has cemented his interest in cookery after his time in the WITT kitchen. While Francis Douglas Memorial College ākonga Ewan Williams doesn’t have a set career plan yet but enjoys time on the maunga and being outside so he chose the taster experience that brought together environmental and primary industries activities.

All the ākonga came together at the end of the workshops for a shared nacho lunch and experienced the manaakitanga that WITT is known for.

“The sun was shining and the music was pumping and shared kai was a great end to a fun day,” says Samantha.