Potential Danger Ahead!

Hey guys and girlies!

We are some chicks from Oakura School: Kara and Jackie:). We are here to talk to you guys about a natural disaster that happened recently and what our school has done to help us be prepared for it!

Kara’s View: When the earthquake in Wellington first happened, I honestly thought I was hallucinating because I was listening to music with my headphones on, completely unaware of the rocking ground beneath my feet. I was at home with my grandad at the time and when I found out what was happening, I did the absolute worst thing you could do and I ran out into the lounge to see what was going on… there I found my grandad peacefully sitting at the table just waiting for it to stop. Natural disasters totally freak me out and I believe I need to learn how to cope with the dramatic experience that could potentially happen again.

Jackie’s View: Well Kara, my experience was a little bit different! I was on my bed and I thought my sister was kicking it, so I screamed at her to stop. But she didn’t because it was an earthquake sista! I ran out to the living room doing the opposite of what I've been taught all my life: drop,cover and hold. I dropped to the ground and put my ear on the ground and listened, but I heard nothing. It was the first ever earthquake that I had experienced in my life… and I like them… but not big ones!

At school we do drills every year to prepare ourselves for a potential disaster. We also learn the importance of knowing what you need in case of an emergency. Drop, cover and hold is one of the main points that we get thrashed upon us during an earthquake safety lesson. After the recent quake, we realised that maybe what we’ve learnt hadn't sunk into our brains enough. Maybe next time we will pay better attention.

Written by Kara and Jackie.

Indoor Bowls

On Thursday 4th July the top 20 Year 7 and 8 students competed in the Indoor Bowls tournament held at Okato, Hempton Hall. All of the Year 7 and 8’s participated in selection trials at Oakura Hall before the top 20 were selected. The teams had a few practice sessions with their excellent coaches Zena, Rex, Ray, Rod, Mike and Val before heading off to Okato. Results 1st place – Coastal Taranaki School 2nd place – Oakura 5 (Kara Wells, Mark Huitema, Finn van Bergen and Matthew Whittaker). 3rd place – Oakura 4 (Hayden Benton, Jason Bond, Blair Walker and Kaia Mead). Juliet Squatriti of Oakura 2 won the $10 challenge where one member of each team tries to get closest to the $10 note. Written by Poppy Mitchell.