Tania Lewis-Rickard, Director of Kai Aroha, is a much loved and respected member of our staff at Papamoa College.
She is a passionate visual arts and photography teacher, who is very well regarded by students, parents and whanau. In fact, she is highly regarded by everyone she has contact with. We are privileged to also have her husband Tawhai work for us, and their children have been associated with the school in the past.
Tania’s empathetic heart and caring nature are what endears you to her. She is relentlessly positive and truly lives by strong values of whanaungatanga and serving others.
At Papamoa College, we acknowledge that we are all people in life first and staff members second, and accept that both these aspects of life merge together and overlap. For most people, working in education is a vocation and very much an extension of who you are as a person. Therefore we try to support people and allow them to grow, as much as we can in life and in work.
In terms of Tania and her involvement with Kai Aroha and now Awhina House, we very much support her endeavours to reach out and make a difference to those in the community who deserve better. As a school, we have probably benefitted more from Tania and Tawhai’s involvement in the community than anything we may have contributed.
Papamoa College and its people are certainly better, for having Tania being who she is and doing what she does.
-By Steve Lindsey, Papamoa College Principal
