Press release April 2007

The talents of their local kids puts Ngatea on the world stage - and screen

Ngatea Primary School’s short film ‘Polluted Piako’ has been judged the best overall video at the recent Kid Witness News International Video Competition, judged by television professionals in the United States. As a result of their success, the film’s producers, Kayla Leonard (scriptwriter, presenter, editor) and Theresa Speedy (scriptwriter, camera operator, director, editor) have won a trip to the United States with their teacher, Jonathan O’Neill, to accept their award at a ceremony in New Jersey.

In November 2006, the documentary won the overall New Zealand title and booked them a place at the Asia/Oceania finals in Kuala Lumpur. They were subsequently awarded 2nd place from seven other national winners from the region. All continental regions are allowed to put forward their best video for consideration for the international award, however, because the Asia/Oceania region is a combined region, it was determined that both the 1st and 2nd place getters from the Kuala Lumpur competition would be put forward to the international round.

There in the final stage the Ngatea news team came first, with a group from Japan placing second.

Teacher Jonathan O’Neill, who supervised the project, says of the win: “this is a fantastic reward for the students’ hard work. They devoted many hours to the project so the prize is well-deserved”.

Although most New Zealanders are unfamiliar with the Kid Witness News concept, it has been growing in stature as the premier video production competition in the world for school children. The initiative of Panasonic USA, KWN is a global video education program that aims to boost creativity and communication skills and foster teamwork through video production by children at the elementary and junior high school levels (Years 5 – 10 in New Zealand).

More than 70,000 children around the world have participated in the KWN program since it first began in the U.S. in 1988, and the competition was introduced to Kiwi schools by Panasonic New Zealand three years ago. As of February 2007, 511 schools and around 9,000 children are participating in 24 countries around the world.

The documentary, ‘Polluted Piako’, focuses on the causes of high pollution levels in the children’s local Piako River, and demonstrates how some environmentally-conscious farmers are tackling the problem. Environment Waikato Programme Manager Alan Campbell, one of the people interviewed for the film, has been quoted as saying that the piece tackled an important issue.

“These children, who can no longer confidently swim in the Piako River due to pollution problems, are the generation that will benefit from the improvements in farm practices that are currently being developed by our leading farmers. It’s fantastic to see the students promoting such positive environmental messages.”

Chris Key, Marketing Manger at Panasonic New Zealand agrees: “the story that these children have told through their piece for KWN is about New Zealand, but the environment is a global concern. We are so proud of their win, which has definitely shown that the Kiwi kids of the future are amongst the most aware and talented in the world”.

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