An upcycled education
A former principal turned signmaking business owner has come up with a novel idea to meld his two different skill sets together.
John Elliott, a former principal of Mimi School in north Taranaki, left the education sector about two-and-a-half years ago and took over ownership of Aspect Signs, based in New Plymouth.
One of the things that became very obvious to him from the outset of his new venture was the amount of waste left behind after projects were finished.
However, after putting in hours of work during the last 12 months, Elliott has fashioned the old signage, pallets, packing slips, leftover digital vinyl prints and old broom and paint handles into a range of ‘‘upcycled’’ games, including a super-sized Battleship set, along with storage and seating.
Alongside the hand-made resources, Elliott has developed an outdoor education programme for schoolchildren, which focuses on developing their leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Called Out of Bounds, the initiative has been met with keen interest from Taranaki educators, with Urenui School being the first to sign up for the programme. ‘‘It’s all front end effort and after that it’s about getting out with the kids and engaging with them,’’ he said of the upcycling effort.
‘‘Outdoor education always my thing in school.’’
Elliott said he left the education profession because of his frustration with the system but he still enjoyed working alongside children.
‘‘I never got out because of the kids,’’ he said.
Last week, 26 Year 5 and 6 students had an overnight camp, based at Urenui School, where they got a chance to focus on their was classmates’ positive attributes, work alongside each other on a series of planned activities and have some good old-fashioned fun together.
Principal Karin Jury, who also participated at the camp, said there was an ongoing emphasis within the school to develop leadership potential in all its 84 students.
She said Elliott’s programme ‘‘fit perfectly’’ with the school’s philosophy of students working together as a team.
‘‘It was a great opportunity to learn more about leadership,’’ Jury said.
‘‘Hopefully they’ll come out with good skills.’’