Principal welcomed

Thursday, 04 February 2010

By REBECCA GARDINER

• Howick and Pakuranga Times

ON-BOARD: Howick College principal Iva Ropati meets board of trustees' student representative Jessica Beckham before his official powhiri. He is flanked by One Tree Hill College students. Photo supplied Andrew Harman.

Howick College’s new principal Iva Ropati received a Maori welcome by the school’s kapahaka group on Tuesday morning.Dressed in a suit and with a red ula fala (traditional necklace) to mark his Samoan roots, Mr Ropati entered the school’s theatre to a moving karanga (call of welcome).“It was a brilliant powhiri and a moving ceremony,” says Mr Ropati. “It was great to feel honoured in that way and I got the sense from staff and students that they are an incredibly positive group of people.”Pupils from One Tree Hill College’s kapahaka group joined the former rugby league star and shed tears in their final farewell.“It was sad,” says Mr Ropati, of bidding farewell to his old students. “There was a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat.”A group of teachers were on hand to witness the welcome and shared some kai and a cuppa with him after the ceremony.The board of trustees’ deputy chairman, John Wyers, is confident Mr Ropati will help make Howick “the school of choice in East Auckland”. “It’s quite a big job,” says Mr Wyers. “But Iva’s had lots of successes in his life. He’s going to help us.”

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Principal welcomed