Poon Chongcharoen, Elena McCrossan and Paul Huggins from Hillcrest High School.
Three Hamilton secondary school students are taking their learning well beyond the classroom as they advocate for social action through a policy change for New Zealand’s para athletes.
Poon Chongcharoen, Paul Huggins and Elena McCrossan from Hillcrest High School have been building on Paul’s established passion and support for New Zealand’s para athletes and Paralympics New Zealand. They are calling for better, more equitable coverage and representation of para athletes and for Paralympics New Zealand to be afforded the same protections as other major sporting events and organisations.
In the process, they have been interviewing Members of Parliament and government Ministers, the CEO of Paralympics New Zealand and the leader of the Shift 20 Initiative, which is part of the Dylan Alcott Foundation in Australia. These students have written to Government Ministers asking for amendments to two specific pieces of legislation: The Broadcasting Act of 1989 and the Major Events Management Act of 2007. In the course of their work, they have been encouraged to launch an official government petition, which is now live on the Parliament website.
They have also liaised with other NSO, Disability sport organisations and members of the community.
The students have also been invited to Wellington 30 June -1 July to work with MPs on crafting a Private Member’s Bill at the end of the term. Paul, Poon and Elena have worked very hard to make this happen and are now fundraising to help the Wellington trip become a reality. This is a great example of ‘real-world learning’, and we are proud of these three students for going beyond the scope of the assessment and truly advocating for meaningful social action and policy change. Please see the links below to their Petition page. Help these students out by signing the petition and sharing the link with your networks.
https://petitions.parliament.nz/d33f3602-5680-4f88-6557-08deaedac339?lang=en
Supplied.