On 17 March, we held our annual school Coin Trail in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.  After weeks of fundraising within Atawhai, the students and teachers had the opportunity to get involved by dressing up in their brightest green and taking part in an Atawhai chalk design and photo competition that illustrated the core Mercy value of 2023, Courage (Maia).

All the money raised by the students was then added up and incorporated into the full school Coin Trail donation to Caritas and the Red Cross.  This year, all the money students and families have kindly donated will be used to provide relief to the victims of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey on 6 February, as well as the victims of the recent floods here in Aotearoa.

Our St. Patrick’s Day celebration then continued into lunchtime, with an array of St. Patrick’s Day-themed games and food stalls available to the school.  It was amazing to see the turnout of people who joined us, as the stalls proved to be a hit among the students, providing a fun time and an extra profit of $2033.33 towards our donation!

Coin Trail is always a highlight of the school year.  The school spirit and enthusiasm has blown us away.  We really thank you for the generosity and kindness everybody has shown in solidarity with this important cause, as our 2023 whole-school donation is valued at $5988.70.

The day itself was a huge success and we couldn’t have done this without the incredible support from our committee and staff members, and everyone else that contributed or helped us to organise the event.

Lucia Kim & Sherry Rofaeil, Heads of Arts and Culture