Students from Tairāwhiti are taking part in this year’s Race Unity Speech Awards regional heat tomorrow at Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club at 7pm.
Last year’s champions Jacqueline Nankivell from Campion College and Mairangi Campbell from Gisborne Boys’ High represented the Tairāwhiti region at the semi-finals and finals. Along with other rangatahi, Jacqueline and Mairangi raised the call for race unity. Jacqueline will represent her school again this week.
One of the Race Unity Speech Awards’ national co-ordinators, Bev Watson, says there is a lot of excitement to hear this year’s speeches.
“Their passion, insights and commitment to creating a racism-free country is inspiring,” says Ms Watson.
“So many participants have expressed their thanks for the existence of a platform that allows them to share their hopes and concerns, which encourages us to ‘keep this good thing going’, as one teacher described it.”
