Teachers Kate Findlay, back left and Alex Whaley-Smith, back centre, join Cambridge Community Board member Alana MacKay and children Carys Brown, 10, Levi Cronin, 9, Sean Walters, 11, Isak Fivas, 10, Wei Mi Huang, 11, Ryan Burchett, 9, Georgia Flavell, 11, Imogen Nicholl, 7, Georgie Hurst, 6, Billy McIntyre, 6 and Lincoln Hill, 5.
Lincoln Hill points proudly to his handprint on the wooden Christmas tree he and the other junior students at Cambridge East Primary School recently completed.
Sean Walters, 11, with Georgia Flavell, 11, and Shirley Haycock from Ray White. © Mary Anne Gill, Good Local Media, 2022
The 5-year-old is looking forward to seeing his tree in one of the town’s businesses on Victoria Street in what organisers are saying is a true community collaboration.
School assistant principal Kate Findlay managed to get 120 handprints on the juniors’ tree and it is fair to say wherever it ends up, it will attract plenty of attention.
The project is the Cambridge Community Board’s Christmas Tree project. Board member Alana MacKay was on hand to receive the school’s two wooden trees last week and said she was thrilled to see how well schools and community groups had responded to the challenge.
The project was inspired by a Taupo initiative and will complement the other town decorations by adding a pop of colour and festive spirit at ground level.
Businesses will become guardians of the trees. Shirley Haycock from Ray White will display a wooden tree made by the Cambridge East senior students and said it was a good opportunity to support the community.
Artists and supporters included youngsters from St Peter’s, St Peter’s Catholic, Leamington, Cambridge Middle and Cambridge East schools; Christ New Creation International Church, Cambridge Cubs, Resthaven, Cambridge-Le Quesnoy Friendship Association and Cambridge and Bihoro Sister Cities.
Lincoln Hill, Billy McIntyre, Georgie Hurst and Imogen Nicholl with the wooden Christmas tree they and the junior students at Cambridge East Primary School made for the main street. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
