School recreates Christ the Redeemer figure on field

St Mary’s Catholic School Tauranga students spent the morning of September 24 forming a human image of Christ the Redeemer. Armed with spray paint, the students brought the landmark to life on their field.

Year 5 and 6 students had spent the term researching the history and engineering behind the statue and the other six modern wonders of the world. Rather than leave it as a picture in a textbook, teachers decided to bring its scale home.

The statue was mapped onto the school’s sports field to match its actual dimensions: 30 metres tall and 28 metres wide. More than 450 students and teachers completed the human image.

Teacher Deanne Willemse led the project and postponed her own holiday to see it through. She described how the outline was painted onto the field with help from a neighbour of the school. The final touches came on the morning of the event.

Mrs Willemse decided the figure’s hands looked “too boxy” and didn’t sit right, so they reworked the paint and sent students out with scissors to trim the grass back to the old lines. Students and teachers then gathered, methodically taking their places to complete the shape.

Principal Fay Warnock addressed the students following the exercise, thanking everyone involved.

“What an amazing learning this has been for us this term,” she said.

A St Mary’s Facebook post stated: “This learning has been a key focus of our senior school literacy programme this term, with mathematics, technology and social sciences supporting and extending the learning. As a Catholic school, students have also been exploring the meaning behind the name ‘The Redeemer’ and how the statue’s open arms, forming a cross, represent faith, welcome, peace and protection.”

FULL STORY

St Mary’s Tauranga students create life-size human image of Christ the Redeemer (By Zoe Blake/Bay of Plenty Times)

Facebook (St Mary’s School Tauranga)