Harold the Life Education Trust mascot and Mrs Wallace, the trust’s Southland teacher, have been working together since 2007 talking to school children about health and wellbeing.
The teaching covers five main topics including food and nutrition, identity and resilience, and relationships and communities.
Mrs Wallace said it was the ‘‘everyone is unique’’ philosophy behind the programme that inspired her.
‘‘It’s important that the children receive the message that they are amazing, that their body’s amazing and everybody deserves respect.’’
She completed her teaching degree majoring in health so the work she did was important to her.
Most primary and intermediate schools in Southland took part in the programme.
Schools chose which lessons she taught and she had noticed more demand for lessons about mental and emotional wellbeing, including stress management, resilience and relationships.
In the past there was more emphasis on food, nutrition and body systems.
Children were facing different challenges partly because they were spending more time on the internet, Mrs Wallace said.
‘‘They’re being exposed to inappropriate content, experiencing more pressure around body image and being asked for information that should be kept private.
‘‘What hasn’t changed is that they’re excited every time Harold and the mobile classroom rock up.’’
Often when the children had their last lesson with Harold in Year 8 they would want to take a ‘‘selfie’’ with him, she said.
Another highlight for her was when teachers told her she had been their ‘‘Harold teacher’’, when they were at school.
The trust, which had been operating in Southland since 1992, did not receive any Government funding and was reliant on grants and sponsorship for income.
Mrs Wallace would welcome anyone interested in contributing financially or who would like to join the trust, to make contact.
‘‘We know it’s tight out there but if we don’t have the funding to carry on, schools won’t have access to us.’’
Salford School principal Sarah Gibbs said the power of Harold spread across all ages and everyone looked forward to him visiting.
‘‘The poor educators who do a fantastic job in their challenging roles, working with large numbers of schools, classrooms and children, making connections despite only seeing them for two 45 minutes sessions each year, always come in second to Harold.’’
The educators did a fantastic job of keeping the lessons fast paced, interactive and positive and managed to balance the beliefs and cultures of whānau, Ms Gibbs said.
