Ōhaupō School’s Chelsea Smart, left, and Aliyah Alchin with the full-scale model they built of the school. Photo: Jeremy Smith
Ōhaupō School’s budding science and technology minds have been acknowledged at a school ceremony.
The schools celebrated recent success for students at this year’s Niwa Waikato Regional Science and Technology Fair.
Thirteen pupils from the school – which has a roll of just over 200 students – took home 18 awards.
Students Aliyah Alchin and Chelsea Smart, both 13, topped the lot – winning the best in fair accolade for their Feel Your Way creation, a full-scale model designed to help a blind or visually impaired student navigate Ōhaupō School grounds.
The Waikato Regional Science and Technology Fair is open to intermediate and high schools.
Aliyah and Chelsea’s science tutor was Valerie Millington, whose mother was blind. She has been helping Ōhaupō School students enter the science fair for almost 30 years.
“I think unless you grow up with a close family member around you who is blind or visually impaired, it’s hard to get a sense of exactly what that’s like,” she said.
Other students acknowledged at the assembly were Ella Dela Cruz, Hannah Cadman, Monique McDonald, Lara Hollinshead, Emille Paul, Kaiden Greaney, Luke Brier, Kate Davenport, Kylo Holloway-Smith, Daniella Patterson and Zoe Kite.
