It all started when Constable Damian Parsons and the Southland Dog Section recruited Room 6 (Manuka) at Otatara School to help them name their newest member.
The children embarked on the most exciting quest of the year — to name the newest canine criminal catcher.
Rumours started to bark around school and soon the children of Manuka were planning a fully fledged election.
At first, Mānuka researched multiple advertisements to find key ideas they could use when they created their own posters. Once their posters were made, they scampered around the classrooms to share the exciting news and build some hype.
To cast an accurate vote, meeting the pup was essential. Constable Parsons brought the pup around to each of the classrooms so it could help the children to decide on their vote.
Come Wednesday, their classroom was transformed into a polling place where they enacted roles of ‘Voting Assistants’ and ‘Issuing Officers’ and gathered individual votes from across the school. The children were able to create this space thanks to some left over polling booths that the school had held on to from the previous election, making this an authentic process drama opportunity. A total of 232 votes were gathered that day, collected solely by the children of Mānuka.
On Thursday, the preliminary votes were tallied with a scrutineer on site to ensure the votes were fairly counted. With a choice between Lynk or Lawson, Manuka’s favourite was licking its way to the top. The second count of the votes finalised their winner.
Lynk launched his way to the top!
Constable Damian Parsons, of the Invercargill Dog Section, said: “It was great to see the passion that both pupils and staff put into this project, as well as the exciting learning opportunities that came from it.”
Southland Dog Section Supervisor, Sergeant Jason Gordon said, “The naming of the Police pup is a great way to build and strengthen our partnerships with local schools and create a positive connection between Police and young people, working together with our schools to help keep Southland safer.”
Manuka sought help from their community and spoke to some amazing parents who were journalists and editors. Working with these experts gave them encouragement and inspiration to write this article.
- Room 6 (Mānuka) would love to thank Southland Express reporter Toni McDonald for giving us the opportunity to become reporters and share our story. We would also like to thank the Invercargill Dog Section and New Zealand Police for giving us such a ‘paw-some’ opportunity.
