Throughout 2020 Worser Bay Boating Club and the Boat & Beach Wise Trust, in partnership with Yachting New Zealand, have been working with the schools in the Motu Kairangi Kāhui Ako to design, test and pilot a schools' programme called Kōkōkaha - Powered by Wind.
And now 15,000 kids in over 600 classes around the country are registered to participate in the programme as the 36th America's Cup unfolds during term one 2021.
Kōkōkaha is an integrated unit of work, for students in years 6 through to 10, that focuses on the science, technology, engineering and maths associated with harnessing the power of the wind. Kōkōkaha includes classroom and sailing experiences.
Classroom experiences include hands-on activities to help students learn about the power of the wind. Sailing experiences include going sailing to feel the power of the wind and interacting with a set of resources to understand how sailing technologies work. Learners use the skills and knowledge they acquire to design and share a technology to harness the power of the wind.
"It has been great working with the teachers and students in our local community and the programme is really starting to look pretty good" explains project lead Dean Stanley. "It is going to be great to see the programme come to life at Worser Bay and over twenty other clubs around the country from the beginning of next year."
Kōkōkaha is the first of three modules that will ultimately form the overall schools' programme available to schools at Worser Bay Boating Club.
Find out more about Kōkōkaha at www.kokokaha-yachting.nz