Matiere School – a tiny rural school near Taumarunui - has won the $5000 prize in the “Phones for Starship” Challenge.  The school, which has just 20 students from nine local families, collected 290 phones.

 

The school's new principal, Lisa Wallace, says she had been in the job for only one day when she found out about the “Phones for Starship” Challenge. “That night, I had a board meeting where we were talking about the absolute lack of money the school had and what we could do about it. I suggested we try winning the money in the challenge. The kids really got behind it. It's fantastic to have won,” she says.

 

The students sent out letters to businesses in the area and called friends and family from all over the country. One seven year-old student at the school collected 180 phones, after ringing and writing to large South Island-based businesses asking them to hand over any old phones.

 

Matiere School, which has one operational classroom and an old school hall, says it will use the money to purchase an interactive whiteboard. “Having that kind of equipment would open up the world to our kids,” says Mrs Wallace.

 

The “Phones for Starship” Challenge was launched to all schools across the country – encouraging school children to collect and donate old mobile phones to help Starship kids. Students were encouraged to canvas their family, friends and community in their own time to collect old mobile phones to donate. The challenge provided an excellent educational opportunity to teach students about the merits of recycling, while also engaging them in a community-based initiative to help a good cause.

 

Ninety-two schools took part in the challenge and more than 3200 phones were donated to Starship as a result. The winning school was the one that collected the most number of phones per student taking part in the challenge.

 

Another prize went to six year-old Breanna Newman from Nelson Park School in Napier who collected 468 phones. As the individual student who collected the most phones, Breanna wins a trip for two to Wellington on Air New Zealand to visit Parliament and have a one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister.

The six schools that were each drawn as a winner of a Fujifilm Finepix J20 digital camera were Johnsonville School (Wellington), Verran Primary School (Auckland), St Patrick's School (Inglewood), Glendowie Primary School (Auckland), Mosston School (Wanganui) and Fordell School (Wanganui).

 

Several Starship Schools Ambassadors – including rugby legend Jonah Lomu, the Prime Minister's wife Bronagh Key, and Starship supporter and $18 million Lotto winner Helen Henderson – helped promote the competition.

 

Although the “Phones for Starship” Challenge has now ended for the schools, the general public can continue to donate mobile phones for the Starship Mobile Phone Appeal. The donated phones are sent to a recycling company that refurbishes them and then resells the phones into emerging economies around the world, with 60% of the sale price being donated to Starship.