Twelve Year 10 students from Christchurch’s Hornby High School have just finished a two-week wilderness adventure as part of Project K.
The Graeme Dingle Foundation runs the 14-month programme which is designed to help young people deal with the challenges of life.
1News were there as the group returned on mountain bikes, in torrential rain, from the final leg of their journey. They were given a rousing guard of honour by fellow students, and showered in love and hugs by their families. The tears flowed freely.
Tania Mulholland greeted her son Toby McLeish with a tight hug.
“It’s been a really long two weeks without him,” she said, becoming emotional. “Very glad he’s home. Very proud. Very proud.”
Kayla Davison was given a similar welcome.
Her grandmother, Heather Davison, expressed her pride.
“I think it’s like more resilience, getting them to achieve things that they’ve never done before so I think it’s great,” she said.
The teenagers are proud of themselves too.
Kayla said she has learnt “to never give up and to keep trying”.
Toby echoed her words.
“The tramping was kind of wet, cold. Felt like I just wanted to go home but I just pushed through. It was really worth it.”
The teens trekked through native bush and arduous terrain near Otira, in the central South Island, kayaking, abseiling and camping as well.
One student said the tasks brought out the best in each of them.
“You’ll feel scared and lonely and down and you just need to push through because you can do this,” they said.
The students were nominated by their teachers to take part.
Hornby High School principal Ian Murray said those who were chosen had the “best opportunity to grow resilience and character, to help them through the challenges that some of them may have been facing at the time”.
Their final task was to deliver a speech about what they’ve learnt.
“On Project K, I pushed myself beyond my limits and realised I had more to me than I thought,” Kayla told the audience.
The Graeme Dingle Foundation’s general manager for the Canterbury region, Sian Neary, said they’ve seen students flourish after going through the programme.
“We’ve seen them from students that have got their shoulders down and their heads down, looking at the ground, to shoulders up, chin up and just beaming that they’ve overcome some amazing obstacles,” she said.
The Graeme Dingle Foundation supports 27,000 young people to undertake a similar journey of discovery each year.
