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Geo-News

© 2007 The AuthorJournal compilation

© The New Zealand Geographical Society 2007.

February 2007631

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Royal Society: Realize the Dream

One of the opportunities available to the win-ner of the Year 13 Geography Competition isan automatic entry in the ‘Realize the Dream’event run by the Royal Society. Stacey Wrenattended the 5-day event and, following thefinal presentation of the students’ work, wasawarded the

Genesis Energy Excellence inResearch Award

($2000 Education Scholar-ship) for the quality of her work.

Details about this competition are availableat http://www.rsnz.org/education/dream/2006/winners.php.

Annette Lanigan

Chairperson,New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers

February 2007631

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Senior Subject Advisors: Geography

The New Zealand Post Primary TeachersAssociation and the Ministry of Educationhave spent considerable time in recent yearsnegotiating new ways to support classroomteachers and to offer alternative career pathsto keep good teachers in schools. As a resultsome new positions are being trialled for2007. These positions, entitled ‘Senior SubjectAdvisors’ (SSAs), offer a career enhancementopportunity to teachers whilst offering supportto teachers of senior subjects. Previously, sup-port for senior subjects has been very patchyacross the country. There are 24 positionsacross the curriculum, so only seven or eightsubjects will have an SSA in 2007 and Geo-graphy is fortunate to be included. Thesepositions are secondments to School SupportServices for one year, at the end of which timethe person will return to their own school,hopefully energized by all they have seen andbeen able to work on.

Margaret Williams of Waitaki Girls Collegewill be covering all of the South Island, work-ing with Roger Baldwin in the Canterburyregion. Martin Newton from WhangaparoaCollege will be covering the Auckland andNorthland regions, and Annette Lanigan willbe covering the Wellington and Massey regions.The key tasks are to provide support for

teachers to improve student outcomes and tobuild self-sustaining communities of teacherswho will in future be able to provide supportfor each other.

This initiative is a trial for 2007 and if it doescontinue, the subjects chosen may change insubsequent years so it is important that we useas much of this opportunity as possible. Contactdetails for this year’s Senior Subject Advisorsare available on the Society’s website and havealso been sent directly to schools.

Annette Lanigan

Chairperson,New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers

February 2007631

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Presidential Changeover

The New Zealand Geographical Society’snew President is Professor Michael Crozier ofthe School of Geography and Earth Sciencesat Victoria University of Wellington. He waselected at the 2005 Annual General Meeting,and took up office at the start of this year.With a distinguished academic career and along period of close involvement with govern-mental and non-governmental environmentalagencies, he brings important skills and experi-ence to an increasingly demanding position.

Professor Crozier takes over from ProfessorPeter Holland of the University of Otago,who served as President for four years from2003 to 2006. He oversaw a busy period for theSociety, encouraging it to adapt to rapidlychanging circumstances. During his term, herevised the Society’s constitution to ensurethat it provides a better framework for itsactivities, and worked tirelessly towards thesimplification of those activities, to focus onthe essentials of supporting and promotinggeography in New Zealand.

A good example is the encouragement heprovided in the rationalization of the Society’spublications programme, in the merging of the

New Zealand Geographer

and the

New ZealandJournal of Geography

into one title, with pro-duction responsibility assumed by BlackwellPublishing in Melbourne. He worked closelywith the New Zealand Board of GeographyTeachers, judged the Society’s annual competi-tion for outstanding teachers, researchers and