More Kiwi kids to experience the magic of flight

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Kaniere School students

Airpoints™ members are showing their generosity towards this year’s Air New Zealand Airpoints for Schools programme, with four schools already meeting their donation targets to take off on some unforgettable journeys.

The programme has doubled in size this year, with 20 schools from across the country seeking funding support of up to 20,000 Airpoints Dollars™ each to support flights for chosen environmental, educational or cultural projects, resulting in almost 400,000 Airpoints Dollars in available funds.This year the airline received entries from more than 100 schools across New Zealand for travel in support of projects taking place from May 2018 onwards.Air New Zealand General Manager Loyalty Mark Street says it’s exciting even more schools are being supported in 2018 to fulfill their travel ambitions – with nearly half of those selected this year hoping to head overseas. “It’s fantastic Auckland’s Taonga Teen Parent Unit, Makarewa School in Invercargill, Hukerenui Primary School in Northland and Matamata’s Wairere School met their donation targets in just a matter of days following the programme’s launch at the start of the month and I would like thank our Airpoints members who have already generously donated.“We have a few more weeks to go to ensure all schools achieve their targets and I encourage members to donate where they can. More than 300 kids have had new travel experiences to broaden their knowledge over the past two years and it will be fantastic to send another 400 students on trips of a lifetime.”The schools selected to take part in this year’s programme include:Taonga Teen Parent Unit, Auckland – to give students the rare opportunity to travel to Wellington to learn about New Zealand and its heritage by visiting Te Papa and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.Makarewa School, Invercargill – to help three students travel to San Francisco to compete in the Technovation Challenge with their award-winning environmental app centred around the role of the bee and the issues around its declining population.Kuratau Primary School, Turangi – to assist the entire school to travel to Dunedin to learn more about New Zealand's marine life.Mount Maunganui College, Mount Maunganui – to assist students to get to Brisbane as part of a leadership initiative.Hukerenui Primary School, Hikurangi – to help four students travel to Wisconsin to compete in the 2018 International Problem Solving Competition.Pacific Advance Senior School, Auckland – for travel to Wellington to experience its culture and to visit the New Zealand Parliament Buildings and Te Papa.Omanaia School, Kaikohe – to assist taking a group of students to Hawaii to learn more about the ancestral home of Maori.Rotokawa School, Rotorua – to help give students the opportunity to travel by aeroplane for the first time and get to Wellington to visit Te Papa, Weta Workshop and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.Motueka High School, Motueka – to assist a group of students to attend the Joint Dance Congress in Adelaide to showcase Maori and Pacific Island dance cultures and to participate in intercultural dance exchanges.Lincoln Primary School, Canterbury – to help the school’s concert band get to Wellington to perform at the Wellington Bands and Orchestras Festival.Te Pihipihinga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea Kura Kaupapa Maori, New Plymouth – to assist a trip to the Gold Coast for students to experience travel outside New Zealand for the first time along with cultural and educational activities.Edgecumbe College, Bay of Plenty – to help the school’s Mandarin speaking class with their trip to China to connect with their sister school as part of a cultural exchange.St Peter’s College, Palmerston North – to enable students studying Japanese to visit Japan to experience school life there as well as Japanese culture, customs and way of life.St Patrick’s Primary School, Wellington – to assist with students’ travel to Rotorua to learn more about New Zealand culture as many of the school’s students are from other parts of the world.Wairere School, Matamata – to assist travel to Wellington to experience the city's many educational activities including Te Papa and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.Cannington School, Timaru – to help students travel to the Far North to learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi and the area in which it was signed.Ōtaki College, Otaki – to help four Otaki College students get to London to learn about British war and maritime history.Rere School, Gisborne – to assist students from the rural school experience flight for the first time with an educational trip to Queenstown.Te Ranga School, Te Puke – to help students get to Christchurch to learn more about the city and its rebuild.Tangaroa College, Auckland – to help the school’s senior history class travel to Wellington to visit Te Papa, the New Zealand Parliament Buildings and the He Tohu exhibition, an exhibition of the three founding documents of New Zealand.More details on the successful schools and their proposed travel can be viewed here.Air New Zealand Airpoints members are able to donate Airpoints Dollars to the school of their choice through the Airpoints Store.