Kiwi schools named to raise Airpoints Dollars™ for travel

Kiwi schools named to raise Airpoints Dollars™ for travel

Air New Zealand has announced the ten school groups selected for its first annual Airpoints™ for Schools programme who from April will be eligible to receive donated Airpoints Dollars™ to redeem on travel.

The programme is supported by the Ministry of Education and allows Air New Zealand Airpoints members to donate Airpoints Dollars to participating schools for their chosen travel.

Almost 70 entries were received from school groups throughout New Zealand with the successful schools to participate in the programme in 2016 coming from Whangarei, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch, Napier, Hastings, Wellington, Rotorua and a remote rural schools group.

From April, the schools will be able to receive public donations up to a total value of 10,000 Airpoints Dollars each to redeem on flights that contribute to their chosen environmental, educational or cultural projects for students or to upskill teachers.

The successful schools and details of the travel proposals they will raise Airpoints Dollars for are:

• Aorere College, Auckland – to take a group of students to Samoa where their parents/grandparents came from to work in a voluntary capacity at local schools.
• Carisbrook School, Dunedin – to support Year 8 students who have been fundraising since they were in Year 6 to visit their sister school in Singapore as part of a school cultural exchange.
• Heathcote Valley School, Christchurch – to support students’ travel to Hokitika to monitor and compare new spawning habitats of whitebait as part of a new initiative, Whaka Inaka – Causing Whitebait, that has been created through EOS Ecology, DOC and the University of Canterbury.
• Hutt International Boys’ School, Wellington – to support 12 students and two teachers to go to the Pacific Islands to do international service where the students assist with the building and painting of classrooms, installation of IT resources and water tanks, and sharing of culture and language with the village community where the school is located.
• Maraekakaho School, Hastings – to assist students to travel to Auckland to compete in a robotics competition based around effective management of rubbish in today's world.
• Te Awa School, Napier – to support teachers to travel to Europe to increase their knowledge of their newly implemented KIVA anti-bullying programme that has been established at Turku University, Finland.
• Te Kura o Otangarei, Whangarei – to support a group of Year 6-8 students to travel to the Cook Islands to make connections with their tupuna waka and to compare the language similarities and differences between the two cultures.
• View Hill, Christchurch – to support nine rural primary students to travel to Wellington on an educational trip which would include visiting Parliament, Te Papa and to attend the World of Wearable Art.
• Waikite Valley School, Rotorua – to go towards travel to take the senior leadership council to Wellington for a leadership retreat, visiting the beehive, local Member of Parliament’s office and attend National Young Leaders Day.

In addition, remote rural schools of Kaitoke (Great Barrier Island), Halfmoon Bay (Stewart Island), Putorino (Napier), Tapora (Wellsford), Whataroa (South Westland), Makahu (New Plymouth), Marco (New Plymouth) and Makuri (Wanganui) that have been involved in the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary schools programme will raise Airpoints Dollars to redeem for travel to meet in person for a project camp in Wellington.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon says Airpoints for Schools is linked to the airline’s Sustainability Framework, which includes an aspiration to help supercharge New Zealand’s success by inspiring young New Zealanders through support for initiatives that give back to the communities the airline operates within.

“We’re helping schools so they can take students on school trips or provide upskilling opportunities for teachers who may not otherwise have had the funds to do.
“We believe this programme will benefit New Zealand schools, their students and various communities by providing opportunities to gain experiences, knowledge, and inspiration and to expand their horizons.

“Congratulations to the successful schools and we look forward to supporting their efforts to raise Airpoints Dollars for their chosen travels.”

During April and May of 2016 the successful schools and their proposed travel will be published on the Air New Zealand website. Airpoints members will then be able to donate to the featured school or schools of their choice through the Airpoints Store. Any government and airport taxes associated with international airfares will be paid for by Air New Zealand as a donation to the schools participating in the programme.

ENDS

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