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JULY 2024  |
Nau mai haere mai, and welcome to the first edition of Oceanside, the Mount Maunganui College Alumni newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep our alumni informed about what is happening at the college and to help them track the achievements and milestones of the school and its past students. Mount Maunganui College has a long and proud history. We are the oldest secondary school in Tauranga City, sharing that distinction with Tauranga Boys and Girls Colleges over the bridge. Before 1957, there was only one secondary school—Tauranga College—on the site, which TBC currently occupies. 1957, Tauranga College closed, and three new schools were opened to serve the growing population. With over 65 years of serving the community behind us, we must capture that history and look to celebrate our school, staff and student's role in the community. You can help us by sharing this newsletter with those you think may be interested. We are keen to hear from past students and receive any information that might interest our school community. You can contact us at alumni@mmc.school.nz. Please encourage your networks to sign up here to be added to our alumni database. We are also finalising an honours board for students representing New Zealand in sports, arts, culture and academia while at college and after leaving. If you know anyone this might apply to, please direct them HERE. Read on to see what a few former and current Mounties have been up to. |
______________________________________________________________ SCOTT ROBERTSONAs the All Black head coach, we wish Scott all the best for the upcoming season. Scott has been, and continues to be a great supporter of the college, and we are grateful for his contributions. Check out this series Sky Sport has recently aired. Clearly, Scott’s foundational years at the Mount have served him well. |
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______________________________________________________________ JOE KAYESCongratulations to Joe Kayes and his recent appointment as coach of New Zealand’s Men's Waterpolo Team. New Zealand Waterpolo best sums up Joe’s achievements: Joe should need no introduction, however for those of you who don’t know him, he has performed at the highest level of our sport. This includes a professional career in Europe spanning over a decade, playing for Szeged and OSC Budapest in Hungary, as well as Pro Recco in Italy. He has also represented Fremantle and Cronulla in the Australian NL, and the Australian men’s team at the highest level competing in the Rio Olympics in 2016. He has extensive international experience with 106 international caps for Australia. Highlights include World Cup Silver in 2018, World League Bronze in 2019 and multiple Intercontinental titles. Joe has been a great supporter of our waterpolo programme in recent years, doing a wonderful job coaching our boys' team. |
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______________________________________________________________ MAUAO - Always Beside YouMount Maunganui College’s production, ‘MAUAO always beside you’, has been described as the most epic and touching production ever presented by the college. Production Manager Wayne Flanagan says that teaming up with Jason Te Mete from the Tuatara Collective as part of the Creatives in Schools initiative was the inspiration to create stories of Mauao. “If Mauao could speak, what stories he could tell”. Stories from yesteryear at the Mount with donkey rides, Marineland, Leisure Island, surf lifesaving, volleyball champs, Miss Mount Maunganui Beauty Pageant and nights of dancing at the local pubs and clubs. Highlights of the show included Te Panga o Kokowai (The Battle of Kokowai) c1700, as the Ngai Te Rangi of Maketu routed the Ngatai Ranginui who had lived peacefully on the slopes of Mauao for many generations. Our 101 Drama class depicts the tragedy of the Ranui disaster of 28 December 1950, when so many souls perished when the ship ‘Ranui’ was upturned in a terrible storm at the base of the Mount. Beautiful scenes depicted the Ura dancers in incredibly beautiful costumes. Our thanks to Ngaire Utanga, Tutai Herman, and Peggy Turua for their stunning choreography. Vincent Farane from Black Grace choreographed our hip-hop dancers to wild applause, and William Shakespeare’s sonnet ‘Sister Moon and Brother Sun’ is a memorable monologue. Nathan Solomon and Khan Butler’s knowledge and leadership in Tikanga Maori are gold, and Tia Beaufort’s guidance of the band is exceptional. Messages and stories from our youth abound, as this whole production was self-devised and improvised by our amazing tamariki. We are in good hands. |
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______________________________________________________________ SHAKESPEAREMount Maunganui College Shakespeare Acting Troupe achieved National success at the SGCNZ National Shakespeare Festival 2024 in Wellington over the King's Birthday weekend. They were awarded the Best Use of Space Award, The Two Actors Who Showed The Strongest and Most Truthful Connection Between Them Award (Ruby Goodyear and Luca Ririnui), and 1st Prize in the Shakespeare Essay Competition (Sarah Adlam). They also attended workshops with the best directors, actors and tutors in New Zealand. An outstanding result from an outstanding group of students! |
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______________________________________________________________ LYNFIELDThe annual sports exchange against Lynfield College was held at Lynfield College on Thursday, 4 July. Mount Maunganui College Won Overall 8-3! |
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______________________________________________________________ LUCA RIRINUIOUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT Congratulations to Luca Ririnui for his performance at the New Zealand Schools' Debating National Championships. Luca was named Best Speaker at the tournament and was selected to represent New Zealand at the World Schools' Debating Championships in Serbia later in the year. Luca is the first student from Mount Maunganui College to be selected for the New Zealand team and is a member of the first Bay of Plenty regional team to advance through to the semi-finals this year. Luca Ririnui has also been selected to be part of the New Zealand Biology Olympiad team that will travel to Kazakhstan in July to compete in the International Biology Olympiad. Selection for this team involved him participating in an online learning programme, completing three separate entrance exams over a 6 month period and achieving excellent results in each of them. The final exam followed a 10-day long live-in training camp where 22 biology students from around the country worked with some of New Zealand's top scientists doing practical laboratory work, fieldwork and seminars. This was a fantastic experience for Luca, and being chosen to represent New Zealand on the international stage is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations Luca! |
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______________________________________________________________ HIGH SPORTS ACHIEVERS
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______________________________________________________________ FROM THE ARCHIVES40 years ago |
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