For this week’s edition of Good Sorts, 1News revisited the Hamilton’s Tauwhare School, where a man taught his students necessary life skills.
In the years since the 2018 visit, Chris May has gone from teacher to principal – and expanded the programme.
The class, Ngā Tama Toa, is about “boys learning what it means to grow into being great men”, May said.
While it started out with teaching the students how to tie a tie and changing tyres, it’s since grown to include lessons on how to cook a meal, the importance of exercise, and bringing in role models to talk about the true meaning of success.
“What we do see on social media, music videos, TV of what success can be can be distorted,” he explained.
There’s also a class for girls, where they’re taught self-defence and scoring goals.
“Initially, the girls were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to talk about our feelings’,” deputy principal Lorelei Seator said.
“Around 10 to 12 is when a lot of girls, their self-confidence starts dropping. They start thinking that they can’t do things.
“We can do anything, and we can be just as strong as the boys.”
Seator said confident girls are better students.
“We can’t get them to do the reading and the writing, maths as well as they can if they’re worried about all that other stuff.”
May said boys’ learning “has always been a passion of mine since I started teaching – I love the opportunity to be able to continue it on”.
“In education, we’re in the heart-to-heart business and when you’re doing things from the heart, it doesn’t feel like work.”
