Students letter brings New Zealand Olympic hero Natalie Rooney north

Rio silver medallist Natalie Rooney spent the day at Kaitaia's Pamapuria School, where she told pupils to "be dedicated, be passionate and have patience".

Just 147 words was all it took to convince an NZ Olympic medallist to fly more than 1000km to visit a keen young shooter who looks up to her.

When Pamapuria School student Caleb Jordan was given the task in class of writing to a "very inspirational person", he picked champion trap shooter Natalie Rooney, who brought home a silver medal from the Rio Olympics.

Young shooter Caleb Jordan obviously isn't a bad writer either, as a letter he penned in class convinced his Olympic hero to travel north for a visit.

The Year 8 pupil told Ms Rooney, who is based in Timaru, that he would love for her to visit his Kaitaia school.

"We want you to come because you are so very inspirational. We also want you to come because you are different to other people that play rugby," he wrote.

"Most people know what rugby is but not many people know the sport of shooting. Plus you are ranked fifth in the world. Good on you!"

Ms Rooney was convinced, despite not having links to Northland, so on Thursday hopped on two planes to spend the day with the 115 pupils who attend Pamapuria.

"We had an assembly at the beginning of the day and then I went round the classrooms and got to know some of the kids. They were really cool pupils," Ms Rooney said.

There were, of course, lots of requests to hold the silver medal which also made the trip north, and lots of curious listeners.

"I think everyone was quite excited and it was great to be in that environment," Ms Rooney said. "There was lots of questions around my shooting and how I got into it.

There were quite a few keen hunters among [the pupils], so they asked lots of things."

"I really enjoyed it, it was awesome."

Ms Rooney said she told pupils shooting was a family affair. She was born in Waimate in the South Island and had three brothers, the oldest of whom took up shooting with the rest following suit.

Pamapuria School teacher Shelley Sullivan said Ms Rooney's main advice for the children were "be dedicated, be passionate and have patience".

"These can be keys to achieving in any field, for young and old alike," Ms Sullivan said.

The visit was the result of a project where Caleb had been asked to research and contact someone who "had the necessary qualities to inspire the tamariki".

"He then wrote her a letter to persuade her to come. It worked!" Ms Sullivan said Ms Rooney had lots of quality time with pupils in each class.

"This is where she was able to really open up about challenges that she has faced and what it feels like to achieve [your] dreams," Ms Sullivan said.

Ms Rooney spent extra days in Northland, visiting Kaitaia's Abundant Life School. She had never been to the Far North before and also took in Cape Reinga, Paihia, Waitangi and Russell.

"I need to come back soon as I definitely didn't get to do everything I wanted to do." She is preparing for world cup events in 2017.