Ākina – Go Hard!
I’ve spent the last two days in Napier and Hastings encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find out who they are through reading. Finished at Hastings Boys’ High School whose motto is Ākina. This motto was given to them by local iwi and is a call to paddlers who may be losing energy when paddling a waka. A leader will call “Ākina!” meaning “Keep going!”, “Go hard!” What an awesome motto for a school and so fitting with my message to the boys to go hard with reading and see how it can change their lives.
