Eastern Zone Basketball

Drips of sweat, overwhelmed my face as we headed to the ASB Stadium getting ready to play Basketball. Finally we arrived at the stadium, we headed inside. My eyes adjusted to the light and saw that there were a lot of teams scattered around. We set our bags down and had our first game in about 5 minutes.

Walking slowly down the stairs the pressure started to build as we headed out on to the courts. “Okay the starting team jump on” Mr Barks instructed. We were up against St Thomas and then when we were ready the ref blew the whistle. “I got him!” Raenan shouted. St Thomas had the possession and their PG (Point Guard) moved the ball up the court he drove to the basket and drew the foul.

Fortunately we won the first game, I squirted water in my mouth and instantly felt refreshed. My legs were running up and down the court trying to stop the ball from going in our hoop. It was halftime and we were winning by a large amount of points. By the end of the game we had beaten them. So we had won both of our games and only had one team left to beat.

Parnell hopped onto the court they looked like they were ready. Starford won the tip off and we started with the ball first. Raenan our PG brought the ball up, he drove to the basket and scored the first two points. Half time we were losing and unfortunately we did end up with a loss.

We didn’t make it to the playoffs but if we had won our last game we would have gone to the playoffs. So we placed 3rd out of our pool. I had a really good experience playing Basketball, I want to keep playing as well.

Bill MacLaren

During the past five weeks we have been training for the Bill Mclaren East team either Liston park or Tamaki Marist. Our coaches are Rob and Duane. The Bill Mclaren tournament is made up of four teams across Auckland, all open weight, Central, West, South and East.

 Our tournament started yesterday and our first game was against South. They have a reputation for being the hardest team to beat. I could sense that my team felt that they knew we were going to lose, a bunch of us were hurt including myself. My body ached from the bruises and my lungs burning as I tried my hardest to do my job as a forward. We lost in the end but I knew we could have won if we worked on tackling and completing sets.

 Today we had another game against West. We were all focused on the game plan and what our coaches told us to do. Halftime the score was 17-0 to us. However things went downhill after that. Our focus for the forwards was to protect the ball and give it out to the backs. We lost in the end and I felt like we let the game slip out of our hands.

 I think that Rugby is more physical than Rugby League. These last two games have taken toll on my body as I have bruises, cuts and scratches. Good thing is that I have learnt more skills about rugby and how to play the game better. I have also made some new friends.

New Phone

As we headed into assembly I just remembered that Mrs Burt put out a competition in the holidays. That if children blogged their names would go into the draw to win a new phone. During the holidays my mum pushed me to do at least two posts. Very unexpectedly Mrs Burt drew out my name. I was half asleep when it happened. Lesieli won the first phone which was a Nokia and I won the second phone, a Samsung. I wanted to say thank-you to my mum for pushing me to post in holidays and to Telecom for donating the phones to our school. Thank You Mrs Burt as well for getting the prizes organised. I’m glad I’ve got a new phone because it’s a touch phone and now I can get rid of my old one - it’s a Samsung too.

Meeting An Amazing Person

Butterflies fluttering around waiting for the unknown guest to arrive. Today was the day that a celebrity came to our school and gave a anonymous donation to the Manaiakalani Trust. Cars were pulling up and lots of medium built guys were in tuxedos with each of them wearing earpieces. I was shocked when I found out who was coming. My mum knew but she wasn't allowed to tell me.

As the cars pulled up the guest came, it was WILL.I.AM he was the surprise visitor that was coming to give the donation. WILL.I.AM it was unimaginable to actually see him in real life. I greeted him with a simple “Hello” and shook his hand. As we headed into the hall everybody started to open their mouths in awe as WILL.I.AM entered. The cameras were blinding me as they all flashed.

After escorting him to his seat we walked back to sit down. Once our kapahaka and Hip Hop group finished performing, WILL.I.AM shared a very inspirational speech with us. He talked about how he grew up and his family were poor. He really wanted to help out his mum when he was younger. WILL.I.AM is a very humble man, he shows a lot of leadership skills in raising money for charity. He was also wearing some really cool boots.We finished the hour off singing to WILL.I.AM our school song Strive To Succseed.

Fortunately the whole school had left back to their daily routine again and the hall was almost empty. Interviews were everywhere, people asking WILL.I.AM questions. Some of the media people were interviewing prefects as well. I was interviewed five times by many well-known media like ZM radio station, Erin Simpson show and a bunch of other people. I didn't get a chance to see it on t.v or listen to it on the radio. However, lots of my friends and family me on the t.v again!

I think that WILL.I.AM is an amazing person. He has sold albums all over the world and one of his albums went platinum in New Zealand, he is associated with the Hallenstein Brothers which is incredible. I hope next time he comes, he is able to perform for us. , http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/i-am-donates-100-000-nz-children-s-trust-5433031/video?vid=5433336 <--- click here to see what came on T.V

Fiafia 2013

Fiafia, if you don’t know what that is, well it’s when our school cultural groups get together to perform. Our school has it every two years but this year we were lucky because our principal decided to take the stage out onto the field. I was really excited for Fiafia this year. This year was also a special year because it was the 60th anniversary for our school.

“Now you have to select the group that you want to be in this year, remember you have three choices” Mrs Langitupu (our teacher) instructed us. I know I couldn’t pick anything other group then my normal choice Niue because my mother always puts me in it. “Thursday is the day when you all leave to your practice” Mrs Langitupu said. Then the day arrived Thursday.

It approached really quickly the day for fiafia I felt really relaxed on the night. We all strolled to the courts everything so dark and people crowding around my body looking at everybody there looked like more than one-thousand or more people. Going to sit down at the row we were allocated I really started to feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering around frantically. I really wanted to see the other groups perform their items. We were right after the Uni-Cyclers group.

My mind racing of the things that I should be doing as soon as the performance starts. The conch shell blew and it was all about to start. We started the item with the Hopo (jump), Ta me (action-song) and last was the Takalo (war dance). Once it was over I felt really thankful for everything that the tutors had done but now I just got to sit down and watch the other groups perform.

One of the groups that I really wanted to watch was the Barkerville factor group. Which I think they smashed a car and made beats. If I was to pick another group to, I would have been in the Cook-Island drumming group.



Niue Fiafia 2013
This was a little highlight

What Does Easter Mean To You?

Easter is a time to remember what Jesus was crucified for our sins. Centuries ago Jesus decided to sacrifice himself to save all people from their sins. John 3:16 says for God loved the world so much he gave his only son to save our sins, so whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That was one of the scriptures which is a very popular verse known all over the world.

Equippers church had a big Easter give away where families can come together to have a good time with their children. While I was there I was hanging out with my friends from church and we walked around looking at the things which we could participate in but there wasn't anything so we decided to play tiggy.

Over the years people have changed the true meaning of Easter and turned it into about Bunnies. People commercialize to make profit and money from selling Easter eggs. They also have things like Easter shows, Egg hunts and all sorts of other things. Easter eggs are a sign of rebirth which means new beginnings.

Easter for me was really about going to church services and eating a lot of chocolate. I had a Turkish delight chocolate Easter egg it had a big hollow egg and 10 small eggs with Turkish in them they were delicious.

Presenting for Telecom

Yesterday the prefects and I headed down to Tamaki College for a very special presentation. I was very nervous because I was one of the speakers and there were lots of people. I shared about what we do at school and how blogging and netbooks have helped me with my learning. If you look closely you can see my blog and one of my posts on the screen behind me. Click here to see some of the footage. Our presentation was not because of the recent job losses that are about to happen at Telecom.

Earthquake In Auckland City

This was one of the first Earthquakes that I had felt in my whole life. There were two Earthquakes which hit Auckland city. The first Earthquake was at 4.01and the magnitude was 3.1magnitude and 6km deep. It reached the North-East of Auckland and the South-Coast of Motutapu.

The second Earthquake was 4min right after the first one but it had a 3.9 magnitude and a 5km radius.

Writing Sample

“Bring Bring” the bell died out eventually. Okay class today we will be focusing on our art projects everyone has started umm except for you miss Izzy” she pointed out. “Well I haven’t started because I just joined this school” I thought. The old school that I went to was called Glendowie Primary. My parents moved so I had to enroll to this school Pt Paris Intermediate.

“Izzy you must finish your painting before Friday” Miss Lavakula instructed me all I heard was “blablabla”. “Come sit over here” one of the girls called. I strolled over to see blue streaks of hair slide across my face. “Hi my name is Martha and this is my sister Makayla” She said cheerfully. Her sisters hair was the opposite to Martha is was a vibrant streak of red.” Well would you like to start” Miss Lavakula put a piece of paper in my hand. “Hmm where’s my pencil gone?” I wonder hopelessly probably never to find it. “Do you have a spare pencil my seems to be gone?” “No sorry mine was stolen we have stealers in our class”

So for the whole entire block I spent looking for a pencil. I’m sure I saw one under the table I went to grab it but it disappeared like it was made out of thin air “Something feels wrong” I thought. Wait it was 11:00 shouldn’t the bell had rung I looked for the bell and it was gone just like the pencil. I asked the principal “what happened to the bell” he replied “What bell?” He acted like there never was a bell.

I investigated and a whole heap of things had gone the chairs, windows, cars, teachers even Martha’s sister was gone. I asked “Martha where’s your sister?” before she told me an answer a massive black hole swallowed her “Ahhh” I screamed the black hole turned to me. Was this the end after all these years this is how it ends with Izzy the girl who’s life was a misere about to be eaten alive by a black hole?

“Izzy Izzy!” Martha called you were hit by a ball and started screaming “Black hole Black hole!” Did you have a night mare? “Yes it was a dream to remember” I said

Visual Mihi

Fakalofalahiatu my name is Darius I am half niuean, half samoan . I am a year 8 this year attending Pt England school. I am a prefect this year I have a lot of responsibilities this year. These four emblems represent what values I treasure. I love to represent my cultures, religion and my favourite sports. My cultures have very beautiful island's and very wonderful patterns. I go to Equippers church in Manukau.

2013 Fresh Start

Kia Ora my name is Darius I am in room 21 with my teacher Mrs Langitupu. This year I am a year 8 last year until college I am also a prefect for the school. I have a lot of responsibilities this year. I am in year 7/8 Extension. I can't believe how fast the years have gone and how I am going to college soon.  

Back to Australia again!

Heading off again as usual. I fly over to Australia every year maybe twice, in the holidays to see my dad and my siblings. Have you ever flown by yourself? If you're my age it does feel a little bit scary but this was my second time flying unaccompanied so I wasn’t as anxious. When you fly by yourself you have would normally have a flight attendant watching you. Two of my favourite things to do on the plane is to watch movies and listen to music. Landing of the plane is not my favourite part most of the times the plane screech’s but fortunately the plane wasn’t that bad it was smooth landing. As soon as I hoped off the plane I was happy to see my dad. As soon as I got to my dads house I put bags into my baby brothers room and watched some movies then crashed.

One of the things that I did while there was go to was heading to Wet and Wild. The weather was scorching as soon as I headed outside it just overwhelmed me. Swimming was fantastic just hanging out with my dad his wife and my siblings. “Splash! Get over here” I said to my two younger siblings we were have a little fight in the pool. My little brother who was five and my sister who was three years old, were trying to punch and drown me ( I sort of taught them to be rough ). I didn’t go on any rides because I would have gone by myself and so I was looking after my younger brothers and sisters instead. It was packed to capacity with people.

Another thing that I did there was a lot of shopping (which I usually hate doing). My uncle Ailuai took me to a house near his place where they sold basketball singlets for $15 and caps for $10, he had the sale in his garage. They are all imported from U.S.A or thats what I overheard the seller say. When we got there there was a wall filled with snap back hats. They were all different colors and brands. My uncle said I could pick three hats. After a lot of thought I chose  three hats: Neff, Sorry I’m Fresh and Street Swag.

I always love coming to see my dad and my little siblings especially to come see my new baby brother Deandre. Can’t wait to go back again had a lot of fun. Most of the time I was there I was watched movies which was awesome. My favorite right now has got to be Pitch Perfect. Have you seen it yet? You should watch it!

My Friend Description

My Friend: Waata

This person is very smart but can be lazy sometimes
This person has a funny personality but is still tough at the same time
This person is confident but sometimes OVERCONFIDENT
This person is very tall
This person has a big appetite
This person likes to look good
This person likes to say a lot of words

Writing Narrative For Marshmallows

The moon shone brightly through the dark and gloomy trees. The lake washing up on shore left dark shades on the sand. As I sat next to the warm campfire roasting my marshmallow I felt as if something was behind just to make sure it was nothing was I turned around when I shouldn’t of. Fortunately my Marshmallow had cooked. unfortunately there a hideous monster green and ugly behind me it looked like a crossbreed between a lizard and a crocodile . “Ahh” I screamed frightenedly.

I cautiously set my eyes on the beast and it seemed like the end. To my delight the monster was mostly concerned about the marshmallow in my hand. Slowly approaching the monster I handed it my marshmallow it gobbled the whole thing up. it was friendly until I ran out of marshmallows. I just realised that I gave him my last marshmallow so I only had one choice RUN. “Ahhh” I screamed as I sprinted my hardest. My feet felt wobbly and then I tripped I gripped something anything just to protect me. Due to all my unluckiness I grabbed a pillow. One last stand against the beast and only me and the pillow.

I was shivering in fear waiting for the beast to gobble me whole. Finally my luck kicked in and the monster was not as smart as I thought he eye’s were fixed on the pillow (must of thought that it was a giant marshmallow) so I threw the pillow as far as I could and sprinted away screaming “Ahhh”. The monster didn’t follow me instead it tried to cook my pillow and it burnt. (The stupid monster) THE END



Marshmallows from Stephanie Russell on Vimeo.

Telecom Christmas Tree Lighting 2012

“It doesn’t look like many people are going to come to the Christmas tree lighting”?  I said to Kingston. My cousin Hanna, Kingston and I were playing handball at school as the time flew past. I didn’t notice that the bus had arrived until I looked outside and people had gathered in the car park.

As we approached the mob I could see a lot of year 5,6,7 and 8’s all waiting in the car park. “Okay lets head onto the bus now” Mrs Burt instructed. We headed for the second bus it wasn’t as packed as the first bus. We reached the Telecom building and were greeted by one of Courtney who gave us instructions and handed us white bags with our picnic food in it. I thought that was really giving of them.

We arrived at the park and saw a gigantic metal shaped cone-like tree. From the top of the metal tree, lines of metal strings with light bulbs hung from it. The Christmas tree was due to light up at 10pm.

While waiting for the lights we went into this red phone booth which had Santa Line written on it. Mainly kids lined up.  Inside the booth we would use the phone and press the letter A and it would play a recorded message of Santa asking “what is your wish?” Then you say what you want using the handset. We heard some amazing people singing too like Titanium. They were singing “I won’t give up” and “Come on home”, and were the final act for the night. There was also a big tent where kids could color in this wall and get free popcorn from too.

Oscar Kightley from Sione’s Wedding was the last celebrity to speak. He wanted the tree to light up but had to call Santa to help. Everyone in the crowd had to say “ho! ho! ho!” three times and the Christmas tree finally illuminated in the darkness and brightened up the park. By the time the Christmas tree had lit up we took lots of photos. We packed up and all headed back up to the main Telecom building for the bus to arrive and drop us back to school where our cars were parked.

I just wanted to say thank you to Telecom for inviting us to the Christmas Tree Lighting event. A special thanks to Courtney and Katherine for showing us to the park. And Thank you to Mrs Burt too for inviting the 2011 Ambassadors.

Corn Chewy Beef

Do you like Corn Beef ? But you just only have one can? Well my company and I decided to make the best Corn Beef. CHEWY CORN BEEF

My Little Pony Ext

a.Name of toy

b.It's origins - date, inventor, costs, audience, patent etc.

c.BAR - what would you make

B - bigger  Bigger the feet

A - add A horn on its head

R - replace The tail with a laser gun

Toy Name: My Little Pony

Year made in: 1982

Company: Hasbro

Inventor: Bonnie Zacherle

Audience: Girl from 5-9

Material: Rubber

Sale: 40.99 for MY LITTLE PONY PRINCESS CELESTIA

Most popular: 1980s

Main colour: Pink and vibrant colours

The patent was allowed in August 1983 thats when Bonnie Zacherle started working for Hasbro

The original product in was originally called Pretty Pony it was introduced in 1981. It was relaunched again but the name was changed to My Little Pony.

My Little Pony was then made into a cartoon show called My Little Pony: Friends Is Magic

Olympic Controversies EXT

The SLOC were desperate for the Olympics to be held in their country. They were willing to resort to bribery,corruption and fraud. Dave Johnson and Tom Welch, (The leaders) of the organisation flew to 3 countries to meet with members from the International Olympic Committee and offered them deals .People can learn from this controversial scandal in many different ways. For example if they really wanted to hold the olympics in their country they should have proposed their plans properly and done things the right way . To conclude being greedy or selfish will always backfire in the end.

Extension Project Goldie

One of our most famous painters in New Zealand named Charles Frederick Goldie created a painting called Reverie. He dedicated this artwork to his mother Pipi Haerehuka. I think that the hardest part for this painting was the shading because I never used it before so it was a new thing to learn, it also makes the painting more effective then just a plain colour. If I owned this piece of artwork I would name it A Troubled Woman.

The Shed Narrative by Darius&Crusader

“Ohh why did you drag me out here I was having such a great nap” I said to my step cousin Crusader. “We needed to get out of the house and do something fun” Crusader replied. So we did. I really didn’t want to go ‘BUT’ my other friend here Crusader was really excited about it. “Man, what's up with the weather today” Darius Said. The trees were swaying from side to side, there were grey clouds, dull skies, I was starting to think that it was a pretty dumb idea to come out here. The mud under my feet leaving footprints like the CSI investigation program which I watched last night. Unfortunately I fell asleep through the program. I asked Crusader “That looks like a scary house like the house on slender man.” We should totally check it out” Crusader said excitedly “why can’t we just go home and play on the Ps3” I whined. “ You need to get some energy into you” Crusader advised As we were approaching the barn, blood marks were all over the barn. “Hmm must of been the slaughter house” I said Nervously. All the animals had red eyes and sharp teeth but luckily they were fenced in. “I wonder where the farmer went?” “Hey is that him the?” Darius asked. Sheep gathered around this body of an old man with a white beard just lying there. We slowly crept over towards the body and saw the sheep digging into the old man’s gut eating the flesh off. It was so horrible I started to gag so much that I thought I was going to spew on my mate next to me.wanted to spew on my mate next to me. Step by step, the animals walked towards us and we were so scared. So Crusader and I ran all the way back home. We feel really bad because right now, at this moment, all the animals in the world are taking over the world and we are all dying. The End.