NZDF uniting with teachers for School to Skies project

By BEN PLUMMER

Two east Auckland teachers have had the opportunity of a lifetime, attending the ‘School to Skies’ camp run by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) in a bid to get more female youth interested in the armed forces.

Sandy Collier of Pakuranga College and Elisha Hoskin of Howick College were among two of 32 teachers from primary, intermediate and secondary schools across the country to attend the five-day camp at Auckland’s Whenuapai Air Force base.

The ‘School to Skies’ program, which took place at the end of January, allowed teachers to learn the basics of flight and how aircraft work, get hands-on experience fixing a real aircraft and plan a real flight mission to name a few.

“Personally my mind was blown from the experience, I had no idea that any of that stuff existed so to come back to the classroom and telling my students about it was really exciting,” says Hoskin.

The program has been running since 2016 for students and 2021 for teachers.

“They are looking for these talented young ladies to come into the Air Force, and defence force in general,” Collier says.

The Jury Is Still Out

A well-informed letter writer to the Heraldsuggested that slash should be utilised to make wood pellets as a better alternative for making energy than coal and the jury is still out on that one.

The actual burning of wood is assumed by the EU to be zero emissions and Italy, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and France collectively use 11.1 million tons of it to produce energy annually.

Virginia Dale, a research professor – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, said her research showed that the growth of forests in the US absorbs and offsets the carbon emitted during burning of wood pellets when the land is sustainably managed.

The payback time [for] forests to offset that carbon ranges from 44 to 104 years depending on the type of forest and whether it is harvested sustainably or by clear cutting and is able fully to regrow.

On the other hand, according to a study by Professor John Sterman and colleagues of Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim burning wood for energy releases between 15 per cent and 35 per cent more CO2 than coal.

European countries are currently producing more electricity from wood pellets than the combined forces of wind turbines and solar panels which might indicate the professor is wrong.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay

By getting teachers involved in the camp, the NZDF are allowing schools to build awareness of the opportunities and work with career advisors to promote Defence Force opportunities to their own students.

“Placing interesting learning problems within the context of typical Air Force activities, e.g. planning search and rescue missions will allow students to hone their planning skills to solve a range of real-world problems,” Collier says.

Collier says Pakuranga College will now teach more lessons in the context of flight, mission planning, aircraft design and more to create a greater awareness around the opportunities in the NZDF.

The NZDF says the country needs more women in the aviation industry as engineers, technicians, pilots and more.

Around 60 percent of careers in the NZDF are based on STEM (Science, Technology, English and Math) subjects, “whether you want to spend your days in the skies or keep your feet firmly planted on the ground,” says the NZDF.

As a direct result of Collier’s involvement in the School to Skies teacher camp, year 13 Pakuranga College student Andrea Hawke has been selected to attend the next camp for students.

Year 12 Pakuranga College student Depali Lamba has also been selected for the ‘School to Seas’ wahine camp, run by the NZ Navy.

Set to run in the April school holidays, Depali says she applied for more exposure to the possibilities after school and to gain more practical knowledge to compliment her theoretical knowledge in STEM subjects.

Applications are open to year 13 females across the country who are currently studying NCEA Level 3 (or equivalent) Math, English and Science subjects.

More information on the program can be found via the link https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/nzdf/ programmes-and-resources/ school-to-skies/.

Irony In Rsa Sale

The irony of the closing [sale] of the Howick RSA is that Sir Donald Petrie Simson K.B.E., O.B.E, who was the main force behind the formation and establishment of the New Zealand Returned Solders’ Association, is buried in Howick.

He was elected first president on April 29, 1916. He and the RSA held the first Anzac Day in 1916.

Sir Donald, who served with the New Zealand Engineers at Gallipoli, was buried at Our Lady Star of the Sea following his death in 1961.

Father Terry Montgomery Howick

LET’S TALK ABOUT OXYGEN CONTENT

Climate change has been with us forever – just look at the history records. Nonetheless it affects all of us in different ways. Flooding has hit us hard this year especially on the East Coast and Auckland. It was an earthquake that hit us hard in Christchurch and again in Kaikoura. We can expect more of the same.

To blame CO2 content in the air is misplaced. We each expel about 1kg of CO2 each day. Does this mean we should stop breathing or limit the world population?

What is more, nature is the main contributor to CO2 emissions and is also the best absorber. What interests me more is the 21 per cent oxygen content in our air.

This has to remain constant all around the planet for us big lung creatures – if it does not – we die! Who is showing concern for the oxygen content? Certainly not James Shaw, Chloe Swarbrick or any other politicians, not even Klaus Schwab, King Charles or the UN. Ho hum!

The best we can do in this turbulent time is to strengthen buildings to better resist earthquakes, avoid steep slip zones near habitations, build bridges that don’t block-up with slash and develop a ‘particle board’ from all that ground up slash. Keep resilience and invention forefront.

Ian George Howick

Boaties Hard Stands

I strongly object to Cr Loti Fuli’s suggestion that there be a targeted rate to upgrade the haul out facilities at Half Moon Bay (Times, March 22).

If the boaties are causing a problem, let them pay for the hard stand.

Our rates are too high as they are and we have just had another $80 per month added on without any consultation and still can’t get decent footpaths.

Anyway, who would administer it? One in four council employ- ees receive over $100,000 per year and the council’s salaries bill is now exceeding $1 billion per year and I do not think we get value for money.

Arthur Moore

WHERE ARE OUR LOCAL WOOD PIGEONS/ KERERU?

For several years, our garden has been visited by the wood pigeons who feed on our ripe bungalow palm seeds. Last year we had four feeding and two flew overhead, so six were seen at one time.

This year, they have not come nor have I seen any fly over us. Where have they gone?

I sincerely hope they have not been trapped and eaten as they were fascinating to watch and gorge themselves on the berries.

Last year, one pigeon ate 42 of the berries, (about the size of a pea), in one sitting. His crop was so full he could hardly fly. Perhaps they have seen the error of their ways and abandoned their ‘fast food fix’!