Our five youth centres across Aotearoa provided a week of fun. From exciting events and activities to inspiring talks and panels, there was something for everyone during Youth Week 2023.
Zeal Taranaki
Zeal Taranaki hosted our annual event, Empowering Young Leaders’ Day. Growing from previous years’ successes we hosted two this year. 300 young people attended overall from schools located in New Plymouth. Both days included inspirational speakers, music, dance acts, special guests from other organisations, games, competitions and young people sharing their experiences about Zeal and what it’s like growing up as a young person in today’s society.
300
Total attedees during Zeal Taranaki Youth Week
Empowering Young Leaders' Day
The kaupapa of Empowering Young Leaders’ Day is all about young people having a platform to speak, to share their stories and ask questions. Young people were involved in decision making in all aspects of planning and running the day – everything from MCing the event, speaking, being interviewed, asking questions of the person being interviewed, performing, welcoming, and preparing and serving food.
We believe that all young people are leaders within their community and that leaders are not confined to the straight “A” students or the star athletes, but there is leadership potential in all rangatahi.
This was expressed through both the messages of the speakers and the people who were chosen to speak – local young people who are leading in their communities, rather than only famous people who can be seen as exceptional and unattainable by young people who don’t yet consider themselves leaders.
Photos by Ezra Ruka
Every speaker and performer (all under 21 years old) were beyond outstanding – our young crew had been working on these events for two months, we are so proud! The events were high energy, engaging, inspirational and the music and dance was incredible! The feedback from rangatahi and schools was so positive and it was so good to be able to pass that onto our young events crew who made these events so successful!"
Zeal Kāpiti
Zeal Kāpiti organized an exciting series of events during Youth Week, showcasing their dedication to empowering rangatahi. The lineup featured an epic pool table tournament, supporting Ōtaki Colleges’ Pink Shirt Day, and the much-anticipated Zeal Nights.
Spearheaded by young leaders, this event brought together talented young people from various Zeal programmes, such as live sound, lighting, barista, and photography students, as well as outstanding performers who played a pivotal role in creating an unforgettable night. Attendees were treated to competitions with awesome prizes throughout the night, leaving everyone with a sense of fulfilment and ensuring the overall success of the entire event.
164
Total attedees during Zeal Kāpiti Youth Week
Our team was thrilled to witness one particular highlight: witnessing our regular young attendees actively participating in the games and karaoke. Additionally, we were delighted to observe new groups of young individuals joining the events and engaging with Zeal."
Zeal Hamilton
Zeal Hamilton organized a captivating karaoke event in our venue, where rangatahi actively participated in every aspect, from event planning to execution on the night. The event included five teams, each headed by young leaders. These included sound and AV, decorations, security, café and catering, and MCs, overseen by Zeal Hamilton staff members. The night turned out to be truly remarkable, and participants felt immense pride in successfully hosting their event.
150
Total attedees during Zeal Hamilton Youth Week
One of our young girls at Zeal is usually shy and quite reserved, but when one of our MC’s had to leave early, she jumped up from another team and filled in as MC. She did an amazing job! Just seeing all our young people leading these teams was awesome."
I liked how we got to run it our way, and it went really good."
My highlight of the night was that there was just so much happiness.”
Zeal Wellington
In the lead-up to Youth Week, a group of rangatahi demonstrated their leadership abilities by taking charge of planning activities and events. The Zeal youth workers, witnessed this group execute Youth Week in the afternoon spaces was a huge point of pride. The young people wholeheartedly embraced every aspect of the process and the valuable experience they gained along the way. The week saw Rainbow hangs for rainbow-identifying young people, a tournament day, youth takeover hangs and a karaoke party.
100
Total attedees during Zeal Wellington Youth Week
A huge highlight was witnessing a group of young people show true leadership as they planned Youth Week activities and events for Zeal Wellington. For about a month in advance they would meet every Thursday to discuss and finalise their plan for an epic Youth Week. As youth workers seeing this group carry out their plans in the afternoon space was a huge win as they owned every part of it and loved the experience they gained."
Zeal West
Zeal West delivered on its promise of an action-packed Youth Week, ensuring a memorable experience for all young people. We organized a series of five diverse events, including the school tour, Parrs Park Throwdown, The Get Down, Carnival in the Hood alongside Ranui 135, and the Navigator showcase. This collective effort helped to make this year’s Youth Week the most successful to date.
2080
Total attedees during Zeal West Youth Week
The Get Down event stood out as a total success. It provided a platform for bringing people together not just as spectators, but as participants. The school tour played a key role in spreading the message of Youth Week to local schools and helped to build stronger connections with Zeal West and schools we haven't been able to engage in the past. A significant and massive highlight to the overall experience of Youth Week was the inclusion of Kura Kaupapa Maori."
A huge thank you to those who helped to make Youth Week happen
Including Ara Taiohi, Hāpai Te Hauora, Ranui 135, Auckland Council, Wellington City Council, Freshmans Dance Crew, Te Karanga and especially all young people who attended.
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