Parnell Trust Press Releases
- Parnell Farmers' Market Celebrates First Birthday (17 September, 2008)
- Holidays Rock (21 July, 2008)
- Kiwiana rules in Parnell and Newmarket (May, 2008)
- It's Snake Time. Zarbo Art Snake returns to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell (April 2008)
- Visiting Professor Rocks Robotics (March 2008)
- It's Real Life (January 2008)
Parnell Farmers' Market Celebrates First Birthday |
September 17, 2008 The Parnell Farmers' Market celebrates its first year of operation on Saturday 1st November, 2008. The Parnell Trust, which initiated and operates the Market, has planned an exciting programme of birthday events during market hours from 8am to noon on this special Saturday. The authentic Farmers' Market, located in the grounds of the historic Jubilee Building at 545 Parnell Road , has attracted a growing number of producers and shoppers each Saturday from 8am to noon. Parnell Trust manager, Phillippa Pitcher, says she has been delighted by the market's initial success. "The Parnell Farmers' Market has been open every Saturday for a year, including throughout winter when wet weather was a particular challenge for stallholders and market shoppers alike," Ms Pitcher said. "Despite these conditions we have continued to diversify the Market's product range and build strong numbers of loyal Market shoppers." etc etc
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Holidays Rock |
July 21, 2008 Children relish the opportunity to explore their environment and to learn about how things work. A group of 9 14 year old children from the Rock On school holiday programme spent a day in the first week of the holidays, at the SPCA site in Mangere. They experienced some hands on care of animals as they washed and then helped to exercise the dogs and tidy out the cat enclosure. An interactive presentation taught children the basics of animal welfare as well as the roles and responsibilities of those who work for the SPCA. During the second week of the holiday programme the children also had a great opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes Zoom Tour at the Auckland Zoo. Another memorable and interactive day where children are accompanied by a Zoo Keeper and as they see first hand what a hippo has for lunch or how the sea lions are cared for. A session in the Zoo's Education Centre informed the children about some of the work of the Zoo including their participation in the breeding programme for endangered species. With fewer than 400 Sumatran Tigers in the wild, the recent birth of three baby Sumatran tigers at Auckland Zoo has been news around the world. These full day excursions have been included by Parnell Trust into thier school holiday programmes as part of the Young Auckland Project, which is another new initiative by the Trust. Each of the Rock On holiday programmes, up to April 2009, will incluide experiences that provide young Aucklanders with opportunitites to apprecaite and learn about their environment. Themes incorporated include Animal Antics - Jul;y 2008, Geographically Speaking - Sept/Oct, Summer Loving -Jan 09 and connecting with People in Your Environment - April 09. We understand that the older children thrive on exploring their wider community and on actively learning how they can care for thier environment," says Jenny Boyle, Manager Childcare Services, Parnell Trust. With over 15 years experience providing school holiday programmes in support of working families, Parnell Trust now offers a range of four choices for children 5 14 years, including two special interest programmes: Business for Kids and modules (including Lego robotics) from the Science, Engineering and Technology curriculum by Tufts University, Boston, USA. Enrolment in these programmes is open to all Auckland families and details on the holiday programmes are available on their website prior to the start of each holiday period www.parnell.org.nz. ENDS Words 408
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Kiwiana rules in Parnell and Newmarket |
May, 2008 Zarbo Art Snake, organised by Parnell Trust, returned to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell from 19 to 30 May 2008. Up to 700 children from Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School exhibit their art works in the shop windows of Parnell and Newmarket including Holy Trinity Cathedral. This year's theme was Kiwiana and the children created vibrant and imaginative art works around this uniquely New Zealand subject. Thirty six of the most promising young artists where then invited to attend art tutorials which where hosted by Parnell Community Centre. The art tutorials where held on Tuesday 27 May and ran over three days. Parnell Trust was fortunate to have secured the services of Sarah Guy to tutor the children. Sarah incorporated the Kiwiana theme into her tutorials and the children where challenged to design uniquely New Zealand postage stamps. During the tutorials the children were asked to produce an A4 image that reflects what being a Kiwi means to them. The image was copied to a small 5cm x 5cm square using sticker makers. This was then turned into an individual set of self adhesive stamps. In finial development stage, the initial image was used to create a 3D clay model. The activities where especially designed to focus on colour matching, colour compositions and transforming 2D images into 3D ones. It was great fun and all the children really enjoyed the activities which extended their creativity. Zarbo Art Snake is such a fabulous event for all involved and we know that the children of Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School really enjoy taking part in it, says Phillippa Pitcher, General Manager, Parnell Trust. Zarbo Art Snake is an event made possible by sponsorship and it is encouraging for us to know that our sponsors and partners share our vision and values in working collaboratively to bring community and business together for the benefit of all involved.
HIGH RES PHOTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE
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It's Snake time! |
Zarbo Art Snake returns to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell April, 2008 Zarbo Art Snake, organized by Parnell Trust, returns to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell from 19 to 30 May 2008. Up to 750 children from Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School will exhibit their art works for two weeks in the shop windows of Parnell and Newmarket . This year's theme is Kiwiana and we know the children will come up with vibrant and imaginative art works around this uniquely New Zealand subject! Zarbo Art Snake is such a fabulous event for all involved and we know that the children of Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School look forward to taking part in it, says Phillippa Pitcher, General Manager, Parnell Trust, Zarbo Art Snake is a not for profit-event financed through sponsorship and it is encouraging for us to know that our sponsors and partners share our vision and values in working collaboratively to bring community and business together for the benefit of all involved. Special thanks go to our sponsors and many volunteers! We like to thank Mark McDonough, owner of Zarbo, for making this year's Art Snake possible and for hosting a reception for the 36 promising young artists and their parents at Zarbo; Gordon Harris The Art & Graphic Store, Dashwood Design, 3M New Zealand Ltd, Soar Printing Co Ltd. Further thanks go to Newmarket Business Association and Parnell Mainstreet for their sponsorship of this year's Zarbo Art Snake and for their continued support in encouraging retailers to display the children's art works in their windows, to Federal Institute of Studies for volunteering a team of students to help display the art works in shop windows, to Hilltop Superette and all participating retailers in Newmarket and Parnell. Parnell Community Centre will host special drawing tutorials for 36 promising young artists during the time of the exhibition. Members of the public are invited to come to Parnell and Newmarket and enjoy this exhibition of children's art during the Zarbo Art Snake event from 19 to 30 May 2008. See you then! ENDS HIGH RES PHOTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE
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Visiting Professor Rocks Robotics |
March, 2008 On his second visit to New Zealand, Professor Chris Rogers spoke at the Lego Engineering Conference, held on 19 March at Kings College, Otahuhu. As a teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University , Massachusetts , Professor Rogers has a passion for teaching and in 2003 became a co-founder and Director of the Tufts University Centre for Engineering Education Outreach (CEEO). The purpose of the Centre is to improve science education and introduce engineering to younger children by working with teaching professionals and children in classrooms and via international conferences for educators. In 2002 Chris Rogers made his first visit to New Zealand spending 6 months as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Canterbury University , Christchurch . Through a dynamic partnership between Lego Corporation and the CEEO. Prof. Rogers developed the specialised ROBOLAB software, which is the programming software that drives the amazing robotic Lego Mindstorms equipment. This Lego equipment is used to promote the teaching and learning of maths, science and engineering through a system of fun, hands-on robotic challenges that where also developed by Professor Rogers. Initially it was IBM that approached Tufts University to create a Holiday Camp' that would support the allow children of IBM staff, the opportunity to have fun with technology and to support the work/life balance of employees. In New Zealand , Parnell Trust is the only provider of this unique educational system and promotes it locally as Robo Explorer' , one of their most popular school holiday programmes. In the 5 days that it runs, children aged 9 to 14 years get to explorer robotics using their own creativity, interpersonal skills and problem solving abilities to complete a number of challenges and competitions. The focus here is on having lots of fun and learning through exploring. Children have even asked their parents to be dropped off early so that they can get a head start! One of the tutors in the up-coming April programme will be Bradley Barrow. Originally from Johannesburg and now a resident of Torbay on the North Shore , Bradley is a young 18 year old who is enthusiastic about robotics and has presented a robotics projects at a teaching conference in South Africa in 2007. Feeling lucky and privileged to have been invited by Parnell Trust to attend the Lego Engineering Conference, Bradley is looking forward to working with the children and the Advanced Robotics programme offered in the April holidays. We are delighted to offer these high calibre, specialist programmes which the children find fun and stimulating. Said Phillipa Pitcher, General Manager of Parnell Trust. The Trust has now been providing a range of holiday programmes for the community, for over 15 years. Children from all parts of Auckland attend Parnell Trust's School Holiday Programmes some live locally and others are transported to the activities by family who work in central Auckland . Children can join in a whole week's fun (or more).
There are a limited number of places on the week-long Robo Explorer Advanced Robotics programme, so early enrolment is essential. Further details and enrolment information is available at www.parnell.org.nz , by phoning 09 379 2095 x 9724 or by email to pfc@parnell.org.nz
ENDS (Words 453)
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SENT TO YOU BY PARNELL TRUST, AUCKLAND . FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE PHONE PARNELL TRUST PHILLIPPA PITCHER, GENERAL MANAGER OF PARNELL TRUST, ON 09 379 2095 EXTN 9707 or 027 474 9452
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