Dannevirke’s Totara College given awards by World Vision

Ashlee Frankcom and Ben Knightly with World Vision ambassador Charlotte Gee and Totara College's Platinum Award. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Totara College has received two very prestigious awards from World Vision.

Ambassador Charlotte Gee paid a visit to the Dannevirke school to give out the awards, with the first being a Platinum Award for being in the top 5 per cent of New Zealand schools for money raised per head.

Charlotte told the school it was second overall for New Zealand on a per capita basis; its total of $3474 equating to $59/student.

This is the 11th Platinum award the school has received and they hang proudly on the wall beside the school office.

The World Vision Platinum Award for 2023 up close. Photo / Dave Murdoch

The second award was a 35-Year Milestone Award, recognising that Totara College has a long history with World Vision. The school opened 45 years ago and 10 years after that, teacher and now deputy principal Ruth Peters started the fund-raising venture.

The World Vision 35-year Milestone Award. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Every year the school sets a target per pupil. This year it was $10 per junior student and $30 per senior student. It runs various fund-raisers to help the students and those who reach their target have a fun day/night as a reward.

Prior to the pandemic, it was a sleep-over and great fun was had, but since then it has been a school day devoted to even more fun. This year it was to dress in orange mufti and tackle a set of challenges run by the senior students related to collecting water which was World Vision’s theme globally in 2023.

Dave Murdoch is a part-time photo-journalist working for the Bush Telegraph and based at Dannevirke. He has covered any community story telling good news about the district for the last 10 years.