The thinking behind the scholarship - and a second one is available if a suitable student is found - is it will provide insight that will help support the school’s international students.
For Whakaio, it also provides the opportunity to experience Japanese culture and food, and to give his learning of the language a boost.
The scholarship was director of international students Cathi Fourie’s idea.
“During Covid when, of course, we couldn’t get [international] students back here, we were just looking at ways to keep the connection with students, schools parents and agents overseas,” she says.
Several opportunities arose to have “virtual exchanges” with students in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Argentina.
“Whakaio and a couple of his friends were the core team and were really involved in these exchanges and they had a fabulous time.”
There were real-time discussions around topics such as sustainability and a project to redesign schools.
“There was a cool one with a school in Singapore where they sent over some ceramic tiles and paint and traditional games and, via Zoom, they were teaching them traditional painting.”
Cathi realised the “core team” could be a real asset for the school.
“My whole vision was for this little team to go through and be involved with international students. They are really good at interacting with them, but I don’t think they essentially and fundamentally ‘get’ what it is to be an international student, so far from home. I thought it would be cool and awesome to give some of them an opportunity to go abroad.”
She put the idea to principal Alan Liddle who had little hesitation in agreeing to make the scholarship money available.
Whakaio was involved in the virtual exchanges from the beginning.
“When I was in Year 9, we heard about the first Thailand exchange on Zoom and all my friends wanted to do it and I thought ‘why not do it with them’. After that, we got to know the Thai students really well and started talking to them outside of the exchange and started making relationships with them.”
The international student programme restarted in July, and that was Whakaio’s first experience of meeting the students in person.
“I think I was definitely more nervous because they are right next to you, rather than on a Zoom - but it felt like you could connect to them better in person than online.”
This year he has been involved in the orientation of the students who arrived at the school at the start of the year.
Whakaio is learning French and Japanese and while he was initially offered a chance to visit Europe, his preference was Japan.
He says Japanese is easier to pronounce because in that respect it is similar to te reo Māori.
He says he was excited, but a little bit in shock, when he heard he would be going to Japan, and it is something he would not have been able to do without the scholarship.
A destination has yet to be finalised, but he will attend school and live with a host family.
He says his goals are “gaining a better understanding of the culture and the language so when I come back here I’ll be able to help the Japanese students that come (here) better”.
“It will give him such an understanding of what it’s like for the [international] students,” says Cathi.
He is particularly looking forward to experiencing Japanese culture, “how they live and do things differently over there compared to New Zealand - and the food”.
Cathi says despite it being less than a year since the school’s international student programme could restart, it is already “bursting at the seams”.
She says her report to the board of trustees last year signalled it could take three to five years for the programme to reach pre-Covid levels, but that has not been the case.
“We’ve had a big influx of Indian students and more long-term students now, which is really good. We want our short-term students as well, but you want the stability of the long-term ones.”
