It needs to be remembered that the area is (by most NZ standards) isolated. The nearest city is 2 hours hard driving, add half an hour and take it easy to get to Whangarei. Transport of production is entirely by road. The major industries are agriculture, forestry and tourism. Unemployment runs at about 30%, compared with a national average of under 4%. There is a strong "black market" culture in the area, including illegal cash crops.
So, to find something like this in the news brings a real spring to the step and distinct warm feelings in the cockles of the heart, let me tell you...
From the Herald...
08.06.05 1.00pm
An "amazing bunch" of Far North students has won the junior section of the Community Problem Solving Championships in the United States, and another local school has placed second in its section.
Kaitaia Primary School assistant principal Cherie Duncan said the school's team beat 15 teams of from the United States, Canada, Korea and Australia to win the problem-solving crown for students aged 9-11.
"They are an amazing bunch of children. We are all just so stoked for them and so proud of them," Ms Duncan said. It is the first time the 300-pupil school has entered the competition.
Nearby Ahipara Primary School's eight-member team, with mentor-coach Andrea Panther, came second in the intermediate section at the same championship.
The two schools, which had qualified for the competition by winning New Zealand titles, raised nearly $80,000 to send their teams to the United States.
Each team had to present their projects in Lexington, Kentucky, then undergo interviews and questioning by judges (without coaches), before explaining in public the projects at their respective schools.
Kaitaia is a local rural centre, about 3,000 people so it is a bit more than a village.
Ahipara is a small community (population I would guess at about 1,000 on a good day) on the west coast only a few km from Kaitaia.
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