Tauwhare School’s new principal Chris May and students (from left) Ryan Hunter, Hawaikii-Dehlia Pira and Emily Ding with the school’s replacement AED device, made possible thanks to the Tamahere Lions Club. Photo: Supplied
Since becoming a teacher 15 years ago, Chris May has been striving to help his students enjoy school more than he did.
“I sort of failed my way through school,” said Chris, who took over from Fiona Bradley as Tauwhare School’s new principal at the beginning of this year.
“I managed to get School C English, but that was the second time round, and that was it.”
Chris was born in Auckland and lived in Taupo and Rotorua before moving to Morrinsville, where he finished high school.
He did a business management degree at Wintec and worked in retail until his mid-twenties when he started “getting into the training and development side of business leadership” and realised education was his true passion.
That inspired him to complete a post-graduate diploma in education at the University of Waikato in 2008.
“I don’t want kids to have the same educational journey I did, so a large part of my purpose of being in education is making sure that what we’re doing for kids is meeting their needs,” he said.
“Regardless of your experience in school, everyone has the ability to be successful in their life and what they choose. It’s not so much the big cars and millions of dollars but it’s actually what’s at the core to your moral values and what you hold dear. And I think everybody has the ability to be successful in that space.”
He has a particular interest in boys’ education and has written two books: Running with a Hurricane – Educating Boys for Manhood, and Let’s Do Something Else – Creating Learning for Boys that Works.
In 2017, while working at St Columba’s Catholic School in Hamilton, he developed a special boys’ programme centred around “how to be a man, rather than the man”. He taught his students skills useful both at school and at home, such as how to give a strong handshake, tie a tie, cook a steak and change a tyre.
Chris’ first principal’s position was at Tauhei Combined School, near Morrinsville, where he worked for four and a half years before taking over at Tauwhare School.
“It’s an incredibly special environment, Tauwhare, and it’s a privilege for me to be part of the team,” he said.
One of his first tasks as principal has been organising the replacement of an AED – an automated external defibrillator used to treat sudden cardiac arrest – stolen from the school last year.
He said the machine, which cost thousands of dollars and was an important resource for the Tauwhare community, had been replaced thanks to the “very generous” support of the Tamahere Lions Club.
Chris, a keen Chiefs rugby supporter who plays drums for local band The Wingmen in his spare time, lives in Hamilton with his wife Julia and their 20-month-old daughter, Sophie.
“Nothing feels like work,” he said.
“I love what I do, both at school and at work, and that makes it a lot easier to get up in the morning.”
