Mr Pip comes to Tereora College

The lack of suitable and appropriate reading material for Tereora College english students raised an issue with new Head of Department Jessica Labas who in the attempt to “increase literacy and understanding of the English language” amongst Cook Islands students rallied to improve the current state of texts readily available. Labas, published writer and poet of ‘Walking to Africa’, says at current students partake in the DEAR (Drop everything and read) programme which consists of students completing 25 minutes of reading daily and noted that although students are “avid” readers some are rereading the same book for the fourth time. Combating this issue Labas contacted a list of schools throughout Nelson in New Zealand, where she was previously posted; who collectively donated 15 boxes of used books for Tereora College in which Labas quality controlled herself. Having networked with several overseas colleges and authors Labas approached highly decorated New Zealand author Lloyd Jones, amongst a lengthy list of accomplishments include recipient of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Overall Best Book Award 2007 and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2007, with the possibility of gifting a number of texts for Tereora Colleges English Department.
Retailing somewhere between $30-40 NZD Jones willingly donated 20 new copies of his 2007 novel Mr Pip, which was also short listed for the Man Booker Prize 2007, which arrived on Monday in time for the first term to the school year. The addition of the Mr Pip novels to the English Department will predominantly be used for senior classes as classes are set at ideal numbers to the available texts. The novel set in Bouganville, Papua New Guinea during the civil war touches on issues and concepts that Labas feels confident Tereora College english students will be able to grasp, “we can sit down and watch something like Schindler’s List, and while it’s not about our society or our place we can learn about human emotions. I think with this one, the kids will enjoy it.”

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