Nick Willis, our Commonwealth Hero

… Nick Willis …

Full name: Nick Willis

Date of birth: April 25^th 1983 (aged 31)

Height: 1.83 m

Weight: 68 kg

Spouse: Sierra Boucher

Siblings: Steve Willis

Education: University of Michigan

Medals: Silver from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 for the 1500m, Gold in the 1500m in Beijing and Bronze at the 2010 Olympics in New Delhi.

Nick captured the world’s attention when he won the gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He ran 3:37:17 race for the 1500 metres in Paris last year.  He has accomplished a lot of things like coming second the prestigious fifth avenue mile and also clocked 1:45:54 for the 800 m that means Nick is running at approximately 27.5km in an hour wow! That’s outrageously quick.

In 2006 he suffered a splintered bone which meant his usual trainings were suspended for two months and he had to focus on swimming. But Nick never gave up and he certainly had faith in God that he would win a Gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games; and he did. After winning that Gold medal he was determined to win the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

By June and Luiz.

How do bees make honey?

When you see a bee crawl into a flower that’s when you know that they are collecting the nectar. They then return back to the hive and pass it onto the working bees. 

These bees’ suck the nectar from the honey bees and chew the nectar for half an hour.  After a long time of chewing; they finally spit it out and into the honeycomb. 

The nectar has now been created into thick syrup.  When the honey is gooey enough, the bees seal off the honeycomb with a plug of wax. 

In one year the bees will eat up to120 – 200 pounds of nectar.

WOW that’s a lot of chewing!! 

 

I remember…

I remember punching my brother in the face because I was jealous of him being the baby.

I remember cutting my foot while walking on long grass trying to follow my brother.

I remember getting thrown up in the air by an enormous bore hog.

I remember when my favourite cousin died and I cried forever, and losing my breathe.

I remember falling asleep by a big giant tree in the forest with my horse and waking up in my bedroom.

I remember coming up to Auckland and seeing the sky tower for the first time.

I remember seeing everyone in my family crying, and me not knowing why.

I remember going to my koro’s burial and all the men doing the haka.

I remember my dad going to a meeting in Taupo and me having rheumatic fever at that time.

I remember seeing my baby brother for the first time; he looked like a pale alien.

I remember having my first operation, I felt petrified because they had to cut out my ovary, and they tried and tried to put me to sleep.

I remember my dad telling me everything about how he was trying to get his land back, and me telling him that he shouldn’t give up achieving your goals.

By Paris

 I remember

·      I remember my fifth birthday where all of my family came together bringing gifts and happiness

·      I remember my papa protecting me

Where ever I went and if someone made me cry then they would get really scared because of my papa

·      I remember when I used to stay with my grandparents when I was little I never wanted to go to my mum and dad house because I was super close to my grandparents.

·      My first day in primary school my first teacher was miss stanway told me to read this big book that I can’t remember and I read it, then she went and got Mr lysaht to come and listen to my marvellous reading.

·      I remember when I was seven I experienced how to play the guitar and my first song I knew how to play and loved so much was ‘more than words’.

·      I remember getting first place four years for Sunday school test’s out of the entire Methodist congregation’s in Auckland

·      I remember the night my papa passed away I never got to see him to say goodbye before he died but I knew that I was his favourite and I miss him so much

·      I remember winning the Tautua Mo Tupulaga award two years in a row and seeing my nana and clapping and cheering for me and I am the only person who holds the record today.

·      I remember getting top student in a Samoan test out of all the student in Manurewa and I got the gift voucher  and a golden certificate

·      I remember me practicing my dance routines just listening to random songs from the TV

·      I remember celebrating with my best friends Collin and Sam after we won CGT in 2012

·      I remember writing down what I remember about my childhood.

By: June

           I Remember…

I remember meeting my family in Tonga and watching them do the umu with the kids  younger than me.

I remember crying in front of my family when leaving them to come back to New Zealand.

I remember the first time I had to perform my Tongan dance, I was 10 years old at my Aunts 21^st birthday.

I remember getting a broken arm at school from falling from the monkey bars.

I remember the first time I ate coconut and I was allergic to it, and going to school with ugly skin.

I remember the first time I had a sleepover at my friend’s house and couldn’t go to sleep at night.

I remember the day that I was a flower girl at my Aunt's wedding and being shy walking in front of people.

I remember the first time I went to Rainbows End and being extremely excited.

 I remember the day I met my best friend Paris and she asked me for a pen.

I remember getting the best present ever from my mum and it was a new phone.

I remember teaching the girls in my class the Tongan dance and it was frustrating.

I remember going to Paknsave with my aunty, and her fighting with a man for park in the disabled parking.

By Teuhiva 

I REMEMBER………

I remember when I came from Tonga in 2005; I missed my family in Tonga so much.

I remember when I was young my grandpa passed away in Tonga I felt so sad and I couldn’t stop crying for 1 day.

I remember I used to go to school in Tonga and I got a lot of hidings for not listening.

I remember the first time we celebrated Christmas in New Zealand it felt very different from Tonga.

I remember the time I nearly got run over in Mangere, I was so scared.

I remember I couldn’t sleep anywhere without my mum.

I remember my aunty teaching me the Tau’lunga before she passed away.

I remember the first time I went to Rainbow End with the road patrol and I had the best time ever.

I remember when I started C.P.S and my first teacher was Miss Jones.

I remember the first time I met my mum’s family at a family reunion I had a good time with them.

I remember the first time I met Louisa at a wedding she was so weird when I met her.

I remember walking with Losana talking and laughing on the way home.

By Lose

…I Remember….

·    I remember the first time I went to school and everyone was staring at me like I was some sort of monster entering the class.

·    I remember the first day I attended Clendon Park School, I was so nervous I hardly ever spoke for the whole day.

·    I remember my first friends at Clendon Park School they were  Teuhiva and Paris they were smart and kind.

·    I remember the first teacher I met at Clendon Park School, it was Miss Jones, she was so pretty and so kind and that took away my shyness towards the others.

·    I remember the first hiding I got I was screaming like I was dieing.

·    I remember seeing my brother at hospital and I would always call him a monster.

·    I remember when I was young I would always give my brother a hiding if he beat me at a game.

·    I remember when I was ten years old I would hide away from the cleaning and my brothers and sisters would come and look for me.

·    I remember in one of my classes I was the oldest and one of the shortest people.

·    I remember when I was a young no matter where my mother was, I was always by my mother side.

·    I remember just last night I was up all night reading my Anne Frank book so I wouldn’t be behind.

by Dorothy

Cricket tournament 2014

Just after nine o’clock we set sail in our school bus for Bruce Pulman Park. While we were driving there, the girls and boys were laughing and having a great time.  At 9:15am we arrived at our destination. As we got off the bus I looked around at the other teams that we had to challenge, I started to get nervous, but I reminded myself that I had a lot of faith in the girls in my team.

Mr Dawson called all the teams together and explained the rules and expectations of the day. He also shared his words of wisdom and encouragement; this made us want to try our very best.

Our first game was at pitch 3. While we were waiting for Finlayson Park to get ready we had a little warm up session. We were up first to bat and got 62 runs. I was really confident that we could win our first game but with a lot of no balls and wide bowls we lost by just 6 points. I told the girls that it was okay because it was our warm up game and we still had two games to go.

While we walked over to pitch 4 for our second match we shared advice and tips that we had picked up from our training sessions at school. During our game against St Annes the girls got two people out by hitting the wickets and three out by catching on the full. Once again we had the belief that we could take this match however unfortunately after using all our power towards our fielding and bowling we lost the game. It was a great game though with some really exciting achievements. Our bowling skills improved immensely during this game.

Our third game was a difficult one. We were versing The Gardens; they are a really good team. We played our best and had a lot of fun but unfortunately we couldn’t get a win from this game.

Overall the day was fantastic. Our team worked well together and had fun. Although we didn’t get a win we had great team spirit and we left feeling very proud of our efforts. Bring on 2015!!!

By June Palelei 

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