Kāpiti’s game-changing addition

Kia ora!

2019 for Zeal Kāpiti has been huge in so many ways, and November and December have been no exception. We want to give a special shout out to Leanna Peak, our intern, who graduated her first year of Praxis and Aaliyah Turner (read her story below!) who is starting Praxis and interning with us next year. 

Everyone has been working hard to end the year on a high which we absolutely have. We have said goodbye to some of our youth and staff, which is hard, but we’re also welcoming amazing new people into our whānau. We’re excited for the potential we see in them and all they bring to the table. We are expecting big things in 2020!

Merry Christmas from us here at Zeal Kāpiti!

       

Good Story – Meet Aaliyah

Aaliyah is a Year 13 student who we met for the first time in March 2019 in what she describes as an ‘in-between’ phase in her life. Since that time, Aaliyah has gone on to become part of our kaitiaki team, which has cemented that feeling of belonging and given her the confidence to speak upmore.

“Zeal is a space that allows me to be weird and wild without judgment and I’ve completely fallen in love with it all. I’ve discovered that being a wee bit crazy is really fun and a pretty cool part of myself.

Zeal has taught me how important it is for all young people to feel belonging and to have a voice. I’ve made some pretty cool friends, have had epic experiences here and I’m so much happier in myself.”
 

Our new stage trailer

We have been putting our new stage trailer through its paces and it’s been a game-changer! 
We have used it for several local community events already, like the Kāpiti Food Fair, Coastlands 50th, Unicef World Children’s Day celebration, Ōtaki Great Skate, our last Musician’s Lounge for the year – and summer has only just begun!

A Christmas pool party

Our afternoon hangs Christmas pool party was the perfect chill way to finish an incredible year. Iit has been a privilege to walk alongside so many exceptional young people who call Zeal Kāpiti home. 
We also celebrated an amazing year of growth with our kaitiaki team. This group of young people have been the heart and soul of our afternoon hangs and have carried and helped promote the awesome culture that exists in this space..

Year 8 visits

At the beginning of Term 4 we sent an invitation to all of our local primary schools, inviting them to visit Zeal Kāpiti with their Year 8 students. We had an amazing response and five schools took us up on the offer. 

Over four days we have had 250 Year 8 students come into Zeal for the first time. We introduced them to our team, and our youth took them on a guided tour of the building. A few of our young people shared about the impact Zeal has had on their lives, which was amazing! The energy, enthusiasm and positive feedback we received from all the groups was incredible.

Our goal with these visits was to take away some of the anxiety of the unknown for these students. We wanted them to see and experience what Zeal has to offer them and so many of the Year 8s said they would be coming next year! It’s been an incredibly encouraging way to finish 2019.