Support Makoura College

Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:35 am

Zed? What an odd yet cool name.

There was actually a band called that here. Did you ever see "
The Hot Chick"
? The Beach Boys cover that was the title song for that movie was by them.

And yes, that's how we pronounce the letter. So we live in En-Zed, not En-Zee. That just sounds weird ;<br />D

Glad to see that Jemaine takes himself seriously in 'real' situations

Him and his wife were at a pro-democracy rally for Burma in Wellington earlier this year. Made my liberal little heart swell with pride 8-)

It's such a shame that stuff like this happens and that schools have to rely on the local area's reputation to survive.

Its been an issue for awhile in NZ, the number of school closures. The minister is bit of a plonker, really. They've been methodically shutting down little rural primary schools because of low rolls, but they are the best in my opinion. The school I went to was only about 14 kids when I started, and it was awesome that way. The one in town averaged maybe 20 per class, how can that possibly be better? My one is fine though because it's bilingual, which the ministry loves to flaunt.

The local high school was a different story though, and I suspect it has a similar problem to Makoura. There was a huge amount of internal politics going on and infighting, plus a shoddy principal. On top of an all round bad reputation. They couldn't close it though, because it's the only high school in the district. Instead the ministry disbanded the board and installed a commissioner to "
get things back on track"
.

I read the other day that a commissioner has been put in place at Makoura too, which is probably a good sign. From that my assumption is that the closure threat is knee-jerk: Falling roll, so may as well just close it than waste money on working through any problems and students can just go to another school in town : Smile

This stuff is assessed via ERO (education review office) reports annually (I think, on a regular basis anyway). If anyone is interested here is the last one for Makoura. I'm baffled actually, it seems pretty good ???

I'm lucky. I started out on correspondence school (a home schooling programme, a lot of farm kids do it) then country primary school, small town high school and then boarding school. I love that there's no standardised testing until Year 11 ( about 15). Primary school is for fun and stress free learning, yet the opposition want to change that if they get into parliment. Don't fix what isn't broken! ><br /><img src=

" title=">
Sad

" border="0"/>

Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:44 am

Hearing Jemaine say En-Zed as in TV En Zed in the Aro interview video made me go huh for a second coz when I think NZ - I think En Zee. But I like the sound of zed.

Re: the Burma rally pic - the first time I saw it it was the cropped version of only Jemaine and I didn't know where it was taken but I loved the concerned expression on his face. When I saw the whole thing and where it was from I loved him even more.

Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:21 am

Jemaine getting involved in political issues = very hot. And also very fitting. He's intelligent, well-spoken, not to mention passionate (esp. in regards to Makoura) and charismatic as all hell.

Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:26 am

Seriously is there anything not to like about him?

Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:46 pm

[quote author=pukeko board=talkjemaine thread=870 post=25069 time=1219926903

My one is fine though because it's bilingual, which the ministry loves to flaunt.

From that my assumption is that the closure threat is knee-jerk: Falling roll, so may as well just close it than waste money on working through any problems and students can just go to another school in town : Smile

I love that there's no standardised testing until Year 11 ( about 15). Primary school is for fun and stress free learning, yet the opposition want to change that if they get into parliment. Don't fix what isn't broken! ><br /><img src=

" title=">
Sad

" border="0"/>
[/quote]

Wow - this is all really helpful to know!

1. i am honestly impressed re: the bilingual education;
i understand how it can be (ab)used politically;
however, I come from a state (CA) that passed a (racist) law in the early 90's making the use of spanish in the classroom environment illegal, which just disgusts the hell out of me. caitlin has a friend who is actually a teacher in a special bilingual program, and who is facing job cuts because her position is deemed unnecessary. yeah. let's just go back to the pre-civil rights era and force non-native speakers of english to sit in class and have no idea what's going on. THAT will be helpful *heavy, bitter sarcasm here*
2. i'm also disgusted by a similar "
knee-jerk"
reaction at work here: schools which don't perform to CA "
standards"
(a product of Bush's ridiculous "
no child left behind program"
) lose funding as a result, which means there is no budget that the school can use to hire new teachers or find other means of improving students' scores, and thus the school is effectually shut down because of low test scores. not surprisingly, this usually happens in low-income areas of the state.
3. i really hope the school system in NZ doesn't transition to the standardized testing system we have here;
it's a nightmare, and everyone, especially children, are suffering greatly because they are being taught to take exams, not to think for themselves. it's such a destructive cycle - i have no idea how long it will take to recover from the damaging effects of this administration's poor (if not outright absurd) decisions. it breaks my heart.

Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:01 pm

i am honestly impressed re: the bilingual education;
i understand how it can be (ab)used politically;
however, I come from a state (CA) that passed a (racist) law in the early 90's making the use of spanish in the classroom environment illegal,

" title="

" border="0"/> Where is CA, exactly? 1900? Far out, that seems pretty absurd! I know my primary school's decision was a lot to do with politics- you get more funding for being bilingual, but I say its a step in the right direction. Maori wasn't allowed to be spoken in schools here from maybe 1920-1960, and as a result a whole generation wouldn't teach their kids maori because they didn't want them to get a hiding for speaking it at school. As a result all maori speak english, most of them as a first language, and many can't fluently speak maori at all. Maori culture has enjoyed quite a rennaissance of sorts over the last few years though, and there are now a few maori language schools as well as bilingual. And there are a few maori words that are commonly used by all kiwis now, as well as cultural aspects such as the Haka. Actually in terms of figuring out our national identity maori culture has played a huge role, even to pakeha (white) NZers.

i have no idea how long it will take to recover from the damaging effects of this administration's poor (if not outright absurd) decisions. it breaks my heart.

We only hate him because of his foreign policy, which we feel the effects of. So I did wondered if maybe he was voted in because he made some smarter moves internally. Now I'm truely mystified ???

But having to perform to "
standards"
for funding- I mean really? Wouln't that just put a hell of a lot of stress on teachers and kids?Its easy for us to feel left behind, I guess. The standardised testing thing is supposed to "
bring us in line with the rest of th western world"
, but my suspicion is that they just want to have high standards to get a larger range of high fee paying international students. Which is typical National, really (our Republicans) all about money. In reality we perform fine! An international study (by PISA) a couple of years ago of 30 OECD countries put our kids 2nd overall in science, 3rd in reading and 5th in mathematics. And I doubt putting more stress on kids would improve that, and of course as I said it isn't broken.

Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:11 pm

pukeko wrote:

i am honestly impressed re: the bilingual education;
i understand how it can be (ab)used politically;
however, I come from a state (CA) that passed a (racist) law in the early 90's making the use of spanish in the classroom environment illegal,

" title="" border="0"/> Where is CA, exactly? 1900? ...

As Dave said, there's a lot of prejudism here. <img src=

" title="

" border="0"/>

Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:29 am

but there are quite a few immersion elementary schools...i believe students there are taught a language [such as spanish, japanese, and mandarin] in addition to the regular curriculum

Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:06 am

What about native languages, say American Indian or Inuit? Is that learned in schools at all?

Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:47 am

pukeko wrote:What about native languages, say American Indian or Inuit? Is that learned in schools at all?

No. Most Amerindian languages are endangered / extinct, and the indigenous U.S. population is tiny. There's a debate over whether the term "
genocide"
is appropriate to describe what the U.S. government did to the native population (click here for an overview[/url:vlge1v6p]);
either way, the damage is done.

In the gifted program in my state, Latin was required. My friends at other elementary schools took Spanish. In high school, we chose among Spanish, French, and Latin. Mexico and the majority of Central / South America speak Spanish (excluding Brazil, Haiti, etc), so that's the most logical and natural choice.

But Mexico and the Spanish language are touchy subjects here. I've heard some of the most racist comments from people who claim to be left-wing.

I don't know enough about Canada to comment on their indigenous situation, so I'll leave that to Ami and Jess.

I also have no clue about Alaska ... excluding re-runs of "
[url=Northern Exposure]"
. <img src=

" title="

" border="0"/>

Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:48 pm

hellomyfriend wrote:I don't know enough about Canada to comment on their indigenous situation, so I'll leave that to Ami and Jess.

Indigenous culture is very big here... if that's the right word. Especially in Saskatchewan where Jess and I live. There are indian reserves all over the place and indian people are a very large part of our society.. and they do teach the languages in the schools if you choose to learn them. The main languages spoken here besides English and French would be Cree and Dene.

Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:17 pm

Wow that's interesting. I wanted to go to an Inuit museum when I was in Quebec but didn't have time.

Some random guy from Spain stopped me in NYC a few days ago for directions and we had a really interesting coversation. He was an archeologist studying Native American tribes. He's been all over the US & has been chummy with the Navajo etc. It made me realize that I know next to nothing about Native Americans coz they just don't exist in any place I've ever been. The only time I saw a Native American was when I worked at a shoe store and he came in with 2 white men for shoes. The white guys did all the talking. I got the impression that the Indian man wasn't familiar with how to buy shoes.

Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:09 pm

[size=133:x0fpkuow]Conchords set to play in Masterton
14.03.2009
By Matt Stewart

[size=100:x0fpkuow]The world's biggest digi-folk duo The Flight of the Conchords is set to touch down in Masterton, playing an exclusive fundraiser for Jemaine Clement's old school Makoura College.

Organisers are hoping Clement and Conchords compatriot Bret McKenzie (of south-South Wairarapa∨
Wellington) will pack out the 2000 seat Genesis Recreation Centre on Tuesday, March 31;
the venue was chosen over the 550 person capacity school hall, deemed too small to handle such a huge international (and half-homegrown) act.

Makoura's celebrity coup follows months of negotiations between Makoura teacher Rae McKenzie and the duo - who were tentatively booked to play at the college's 40th anniversary in December but couldn't front because the dates clashed with filming of the second series of the Flight of the Conchords' TV series in New York, which is currently airing on the Prime network.

Clement lent his high-profile voice to the chorus of support for the beleaguered school when it was threatened with closure last year and contacted Mrs McKenzie asking what he could do to help.

In an email sent to supportmakoura website founder Andrew Hutchby in July, Clement defended the school against its supposedly "
rough"
public perception and went on to praise the school.

"
In truth, Makoura was the opposite of its reputation,"
Clement said.

"
No gangs of 13-year-old thugs terrorised the science block. You couldn't get whiskey with your salad at the school canteen. Not one knife fight ever erupted during our sustained silent reading class.

"
In fact it was a pleasure to attend. Students were taught respect for each other. There is no old-fashioned prefect system which teaches pupils that some kids are important and others aren't or gives some students power over others.

"
Rather, students are taught to value and respect their fellow students, help them with their problems and listen to their opinions,"
he said.

Mrs McKenzie said Clement was currently in discussion with Conchord's partner Bret McKenzie ironing out the final details.

"
We're hoping we can sell it out or sell as many tickets as possible;
we're all very excited,"
she said.

Makoura staff met today to finalise arrangements for the gig and Mrs McKenzie said tickets would likely be available through Destination Wairarapa at the information centre on Dixon Street opposite Queen Elizabeth Park - she said the $50 tickets would probably be on sale by Wednesday.

A powhiri welcoming the Conchords at the college would precede the concert in the afternoon, she said.

The gig forms part of a mini-charity tour following another fundraiser for the Wellington City Mission and Wellington Tennis to be held on March 20 at the Renouf Centre. Mrs McKenzie said she hadn't used any clan influence to clinch the deal with fellow McKenzie, Bret, to whom she is not directly related.

*Flight of the Conchords, Genesis Recreation Centre, Masterton, Tuesday March 31, 8pm, tickets $50 per person.

Source: [url=http://www.times-age.co.nz/localnews/sto....onds ubsection=][/url]

[image]

Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:12 pm

Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:32 pm

Go Jem and Bret! Hurray! What wonderful news!

Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:06 pm

That's great! They're such nice boys. [image]

Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:08 pm

I hope they save the school with that show! [image]

Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:34 am

Cross-posting here:

drunkagain wrote:

[size=100:3lu460px]Conchords play Masterton
BY TANYA KATTERNS - The Dominion Post Last updated 05:00 17/03/2009

He is set to play Radio City Music Hall in New York next month, but first Jemaine Clement will play a school fundraiser in his old hometown.

The Grammy Award-winning Kiwi comic and his Flight of the Conchords sidekick Bret McKenzie are winging their way to Masterton for one concert to bolster the coffers of Clement's once-struggling college.

Clement dropped the "
bombshell"
in an email to teacher Rae McKenzie at Makoura College late last week.

Mrs McKenzie said Clement had contacted the school last year after news broke of its threatened closure.

He asked what he could do to help. "
At the time we discussed the idea of a fundraiser. Out of the blue last week, he emailed and said, `I am available between March 27 and March 31 to do a concert.'

"
It is amazing that this young man, who has worldwide fame, still wants to invest back into his community."

With just two weeks' warning, Makoura College has been scrambling to make the concert happen. "
It is a huge deal for Masterton, to have this level of entertainment, and because someone cares enough about his community is an incredible boost."

There are just 2000 tickets for the March 31 show. They will go on sale to Wairarapa residents on Thursday, with general sales opening on Friday.

"
We were going to charge $50 but Jemaine and Bret have made it clear that they want the ticket price dropped given the tough economic times and the fact they want the show to be accessible for as many local people as possible,"
Mrs McKenzie said. "
We as a school have agreed on $40 but even that is not low enough for what they were hoping for."

Clement attended Makoura College in the 1980s while growing up in a Masterton state house with his mother Merianne McArdell and two brothers.

Money from the concert will go toward a performing arts department for the 250 pupils.

[size=100:3lu460px]source: