After (surprisingly) voting to include the Recorder in the Year 10 music course, there were some entertaining, and skillful end of unit performances this week. The theme tune from Titanic was popular, as was "Alice the Camel", and "Pokarekare ana", however it was the boys that memorised "Heart and Soul" the familiar piano piece, who added a little extra to their performance...

This week, Year 10 Food and Technology students were given the weighty task of catering to the Honourable Kelvin Davis - the Associate Minister of Education and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. As part of their knife skills unit, students prepared slices, soup, fruit kebabs and other treats for the visit at Wholegrain Organics before delivering them to the function.
Hon Kelvin Davis and regional MP Adrian Rurawhe were in the region announcing $20m of new education spending locally. 
"Everyone was so focused, the food turned out really well - the minister and his team were very impressed!" reported Mrs Naomi Hall - Head of Food Technology.

Months of hard work, hypothesising, log booking, testing, recording results and graphing, came to fruition today in the Year 7 to 9 Science Fair. 
There was an entry from a Year 5 group about stain removal, someone explored the five second rule, others wanted to experiment in their chosen sport, and yet others invented electrical and mechanical devices.  One student made prototypes for a percussion vest to help people with a lung condition, another explored which bread grew mould first and one student attempted to find a more environmentally friendly bread tag. 
Head of Science, Mr Hayden Hewitt was "...impressed with the quality of work students put in, and appreciative of all the support from parents at home".  
A quarter of the 70 entries will be entered into the Manawatu Science and Technology Fair. 

"Worth the investment in my child" was how one parent described the Vanuatu trip. 
Instead of taking a holiday, 18 Year 13 Students spent 12 days, serving in Vanuatu this July. Not knowing what to expect when the got off the plane, students found themselves hand making bricks for a school, building a fence for a new church, hiking to unreached villages, and sharing testimonies in schools.
There was strange food, tropical weather, large insects, long drops, and even a half marathon hike for the tenacious group. Working alongside local YWAM Vanuatu staff, students performed their songs, dramas, and shared testimonies to numerous groups around the islands.
​Principal Peter Ferrar was quick to say how proud he was of the students, of their handling all the challenges, and their willingness to serve. "They learnt what it was to really give of themselves, to grow together and personally as a result." said the proud principal, who was clearly keen to return in 2019. 

Prospective 2019 students in Years 7 - 13 , and their families are welcome to hear our vision, and ethos, tour our facilities, talk to our school leaders, subject specialists and see our classrooms in action.

​Tours are at 3:30pm and 6:30pm on Tuesday 7th August, at Cornerstone. We will outline the structure of Year 9 classes as we continue to grow, options and activities available and the staff involved.    

Year 12 students Andrew and Caleb received their Silver Duke of Edinburgh awards from Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith this week.

To earn the silver award, students had to first complete their bronze award, and then complete months of service, playing a sport, learning a skill and finally an expedition, tramping through the ruahine ranges for a few days.

​It is neat to see Cornerstone students living a full and fulfilling life, and we wish these young men well on their next step - the Gold award. 

This year's annual Music, Dance, Drama and Art showcase will be remembered for some hilarious acting , moving dramas, a lot of money raised for World Vision and a joke by young Amon.
As part of the school's world vision fundraiser, around $1000 was raised for South Sudan by auctioning art works created by students. This was followed by South African and Indian dancing, plays written and directed by Senior Drama students, and Senior Music class performances.
The evening had a community feel with parents and teachers enjoying a good laugh together, and celebrating the successes of our school's finest performers. Principal Dr Ferrar reported he smiled the whole way through the 'deeply satisfying' evening. Meanwhile Year 9 Amon Sahayam managed to steal the limelight in dedicating the final song to his math teacher. 

The senior Food Technology class flew to Auckland this week for The Fine Food New Zealand Show. Analysing ingredients, pricing, and cuisines for their own class projects, students immersed themselves in the restaurant industry. There was also a lot of taste testing. 
Mrs Naomi Hall who runs Food Technology at Cornerstone was proud of the intelligent and engaging way students interacted with stall holders.  "All the different samples and flavours were fantastic. I'd go just for fun" said Samuel Rusden who, like many of his class, clearly has a passion for the industry.  For other students the highlight was meeting international celebrity French-Australian chef Manu Feildel.

The Year 10 Business Studies class sold hotdogs, pies, drinks, burgers.sweets like donuts and fudge as well as savouries like tacos, and hot dogs today in their class project.
Once again the special Cornerstone community came together, with parents helping out behind the scenes, older students guiding younger students around, and a lot of students and staff comparing meals together.
Students learnt about budgeting, team work, organisation, and some aggressive marketing. One group was seen to stand at the school gate earlier in the week, giving out free samples to students and parents in preparation for the day. The Taco group started offering deliveries to teachers who couldn't make it to the court, while another slapped a burger sticker on each of their customers for an extra bit of marketing. 
Teacher in Charge Mrs Wucherpfennig was grateful that everything came together so well on the day, and was also pleased about the hygienc food preparation. Meanwhile Mr Doody appreciated all the behind the scenes effort students put in, as well as the "hearty and affordable burger, drink and lollipop combo". 

Senior Food Technology students prepared the dishes and slices they've created themselves in a series of assessments on developing healthy and delicious food. Parents and teachers bought tickets for seemingly a five course meal at Wholegrain Organics this week.
As classes were in a professional kitchen-cafe, students were able receive feedback on their products from actual paying customers throughout the process. The parents and teachers in attendance on the night would prove to be a tough but appreciative audience, with one teacher writing on the feedback form: 'Your Lemon-Beet slice has excellent texture, There wasn't enough lemon flavour in your Lemon-Beet slice, but it is very well presented, and I'm so proud of you". 

Thanks to everyone who supported our 40 hour famine night market. Students slept overnight at the school in cardboard boxes, fasting from talking, technology, furniture, food, among other things.

The final tally for amount raised will be announced after the Secondary Arts showcase on the 26th of June, where pieces of art made over famine weekend will be auctioned. 

Hopefully we can raise a good amount for the children of South Sudan. 

Cornerstone hosted the second annual Hastings Christian School Sports exchange this week. From the first game where Cornerstone lost 25 to 26 in Netball, to the last game of basketball at the Arena, it proved to be not Cornerstone’s event. Regular Cornerstone sports teams, like Senior Boys Hockey, had convincing wins, and sports that Cornerstone doesn’t regularly play, like Senior Boys Football, had convincing losses. An honourable mention should go to Amon, the only Year 9 on the field in senior boys who earned man of the match as goalie despite the final score being nine to nil.
The event was about more than just sport, starting with a welcoming powhiri ceremony and song, eating meals together, and a combined games night all developed healthy friendships off field – despite the rivalry on field. As one student described it ‘ after spending all this time together, it started to feel like we were all at the same school’. As the Hastings bus left the carpark, Hastings students held up signs to their windows showing contact details, and also showing the strong connection between the schools. 
​Photos by Year 12 and 13 photography students.

As part of the annual Rotary Music Festival, Cornerstone Senior Music class performed at Bethany's Cafe this week. The performers included recent Rockquest groups, original songs and NCEA compositions by Level 1, 2 and 3 Music class students.
For many the memorable moment was Namory's latest entertaining and memorable  lyrics, with his hiphop song about christian parties.
​Thanks to Palmerston North Rotary Club and Bethany's Cafe for having us. 

With flashing lights, evolving costumes, a Robotic Ninja, and a giant Cell Phone and Twink bottle, the wearable arts festival was a celebration of creativity. Organised and ran by the Year 13 social committee, students completed for prize packages, and plaza vouchers. The biggest surprise came from Industrial Revolution Category entrants; Hannah and Emily whose giant candle costume suddenly dropped to reveal two models wearing digital lighting.
 
The Supreme Award went to Amy and Sarah Pinkney - who spent over 20 hours cutting and folding paper flowers and butterflies, for their garden themed dress. 

In their final year at Cornestone, Year 13 Music students rocked the globe theatre at this year's Rockquest. Entering the tightly contested Solo/duo category, Levi and Bailey (pictured) scored a near perfect score for their original song.
Fresh from headlining his first local concert, Namory Keita who goes by the stage name "Sketchy Mugz" brought his own brand or African Rap Hip-Hop to the stage as a crowd favourite.  Neither act managed to win their category, but certainly did the school proud. Images courtesy of Smokefree Rockquest .nz

International Pink-Shirt day came to Cornerstone today, as a show of solidarity against bullying. Students dressed in pink and wore stickers with slogans such as "Stand Together" and "Speak Up".
​Organised by Year 13 prefect, Alice Tate-Davis, some students made pink items seem to fit well within their wardrobe, while others went all out with pink bunny ears, tutus, wings and even hair.   

​Over $600 was donated for Ms Stewart's Zambia trip today. Cornerstone Teacher Ms Stewart was delighted at the generosity of students, knowing the money goes so much further overseas.
​
In previous trips, donated money has bought hundreds of stationery packs, uniforms for poor families, and teaching resources for Limapela Cedric's school near Kitwe in Zambia. It is neat to see students donating their personal money, especially considering our focus value this term is Kindness

Ms Stewart wanted to thank the generosity of the school, and felt humbled by having such support as she steps on the plane for this next mission trip. 

The last of the Term 2 Senior Biology trips saw the Year 12 Biology class trek through hours of native flora at Totara Reserve in Pohangina. Students were analysing the interaction between plants, and tracking the distribution of native trees.
Head of Science Mr Hewitt was impressed with student fitness on the lengthy tramp, as well as the curiosity and passion they had for the forest.

Naphtali tribe returned to their 2017 winning form, by coming out clear winner in this year's Cross Country. Run through reserves near Celaeno park, the 3km track, the hills were a quite a challenge for a few runners. This year's competition featured a new collect and combine clues competition for lesser competitive runners. Second place was a close battle with Issachar drawing ahead of Zebulun tribe by a single runner, with Asher tribe a single runner further back - remarkably close considering all runners from Year 5-13 were considered. 

The Year 13 Biology class traveled to Kahuterawa Stream near Linton today, to collect field data. As part of an internal NCEA standard, students needed to collect a raft of invertebrate samples from the stream. The experience shows us how complex and wonderfully made the micro eco-system of a stream really is. 

Teacher in charge, Mr Hewitt enjoyed the day, appreciating students' inquisitive minds, and willingness to "get in there up to your knees". 

For this term's end of term activities, we had Bible competitions for each year group, as well as a series of summer games. One of the joys of working in a Area school for Years 1-13 is seeing secondary teenagers, take care of and work well with the smaller primary students. Summer sports like Longball, Dodgeball and Non-Stop Cricket took on a new twist as big and small students were paired and each given certain tasks. 

Zebulun Tribe started the day  with a convincing win in the teams Bible knowledge competition - winning most age groups. They continued on the success by winning overall in the Summer Games competition. After 24 events, Issachar tribe and Naphtali tribe, amazingly, were tied for second. 

"Halo! Oslem wanem?" The students asked each other. "I gud, by you?" Was the reply. To pretty much all of us, these words sound like gobbledygook, but to the people of Vanuatu, this is one of their native languages called Bislama. This was just one of the many interesting things we learned when the Vanuatu trip students listening to Mrs. Levy. The Levy family lived for 7 years in Vanuatu, and so it was awesome to hear first hand what the country is like, and learn about the beautiful people that live in it. 

We learned about Vanuatu as a country, its culture, food and clothing and are now all very excited to go! Learning about a different culture reminds us of how awesome our creator God is in creating people that are all so different and unique.

By Olivia De Groot - Year 13

Year 9 students were treated to a Gideon's Bibles presentation this morning, receiving free bibles. 

​Not to be left out, other life labs engaged in sports, food, games, as well as the usual mentoring, bible study and discussion.