The nine students and their friends and whanau gathered in the chapel of St Pat's College Wellington, to celebrate with a liturgy and presentation.

The students began with a waiata and then a skit - in which they very effectively portrayed one Kitty McKinley, the Gap Year coordinator, before the nine of them each presented a speech.

Their speeches were heartfelt and emotional, but also eloquent and insightful.

They spoke of their significant experiences, on placement and retreat, and the inner journey by which they have come to believe more deeply, not only in God, but also in themselves and the world around them. This was moving and inspiring to watch.

The photgraph above:
Back row from left to right: Lio Soane, Michael Start, Jesse Gerrard, Jared Tofaeono
Front row from left to right: Dylan Lynch, Piki Boyles, Sarah Atkinson, Nora Condra, Keeley Grevatt

Director of Challenge 2000, Steve O'Connor, responded with a vote of confidence and thanks, reflecting on Challenge's goal to help love and support young people into their best selves, and the fact that these gap graduates were testimony to the significance and success of this work.

Tim Duckworth then spoke on behalf of the Marists, accepting the thanks of the students, and celebrating a formation programme that, often unlike mainstream education, teaches young people that they - and not only the arbitrary 5% - can be effective and fulfilled, successful and happy.

This was much to reflect on, but also much to celebrate, and so the graduates and their community happily concluded the liturgy with presentation of certificates and a closing waiata. The celebrations then continued over a meal, with plenty of food and stories to share.

The Gap Year a one year programme that involves holistic formation, NZQA youth work training, work placements, experiences, and local and possibly international travel.

The Gap Year offers the chance to develop the social, spiritual, intellectual, employment, well-being and physical elements that are required for a positive, successful and balanced life.

Participants can also access the extras that will help on their life journey: driver's licence, first aid certificate technology training. They even get paid.

Already 63 young people from New Zealand and overseas have accepted have graduated from the programme.

Source

• Supplied
• challenge2000.org.
• Image: Supplied

The event was attended by the Gap year students' families and friends as well as representatives and friends of Challenge 2000 and the Society of Mary.

Each of the graduates had an opportunity to speak honestly about their experience of the Gap Year, its highs and lows.

A number of them talked about how a group had gone from being a bunch of strangers to a community of friends.

They were grateful for the opportunity to be challenged to move out of their comfort zones, to meet people from different backgrounds and cultures.

The experience enabled them to discover skills and strengths they did not know they had.

One of the leaders of the Gap Year programme, Kitty McKinley, said she hoped that the Gap year had provided its participants with a positive experience of the Catholic Church meeting the needs of a new generation.

The other Gap year programme leader, Heath Hutton, was farewelled.

After a number of years with the programme he will be moving on to new challenges in 2015.

For the last five years The Society of Mary has assisted Challenge 2000, to provide eight young people with the opportunity to take part in a Gap Year programme.

Ideally participants have just completed Year 13 and wish to gain real life experience before choosing their future careers. The programme is also suitable for a young person who wants to take "time out" from University or work.

Source

Supplied

Parents, friends and former gap-year students listen as each of the 8 "Gappies" described the challenges they had faced and related the lessons learned in the course of the year.

They spoke enthusiastically especially about the placements they had been given which had provided an the opportunity to goes places they had never been before and to meet people from different ethnic groups, work with children, teenagers and people with disabilities.

Near the end of the course each person was given a month-long placement, working away from their familiar surroundings, in Okaihau, Auckland, Dunedin, Mexico and Samoa.

The gap-year is a one year programme that involves holistic formation, NZQA youth work training, work placements, experiences, and local and international travel. The Gap Year offers the chance to develop the social, spiritual, intellectual, employment, well-being and physical elements that are required for a positive, successful and balanced life.

• Challenge 2000 Website
• Challenge 2000 Facebook

This year the ‘Gappies' went to a variety of placements around New Zealand and overseas. They were sent to the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand to the Hokianga, down to the far south of Dunedin, Hawke's Bay and to Samoa and Mexico.

The Gap students all left the familiar and ventured into the unknown. All of them experienced different cultures and languages, and different ways of living. The placements included assisting at primary and secondary schools, disability services, rest homes, religious communities, and other community agencies. These placements presented opportunities for developing new skills and learning new things, meeting new people, experiencing different charisms which exist in our faith communities, utilising their own talents and finding out more about themselves.

During the students' presentations about their pastoral placements each of them reflected on the impact that their placements have had on each of their lives, and how it helped them to develop mentally, emotionally, spiritually and holistically. They spoke of the difficulties of being somewhere new and foreign, the insights they gained, the enjoyment of new challenges, and most importantly the people they met. It was very moving for those who listened to hear of the significant and profound impact these experiences had on the Gap students and their futures.

More photos

The following is a reflection written by Jacob Bang who went to Mexico for his pastoral placement:

"I saw towering church spires, colours that terrify the darkness, a woman with skyward eyes on the brink of tears, a man rolled up in a blanket, eyes closed as we took photos of the reality we knew and loved.

Loved to touch; our fingertips rejoiced as they pressed against cool polished marble altars, loved to taste; our tongues relished what many believe to be the essence of culture, loved to hear; our ears drinking in the clamours din of those making a living; sound without words, face without name, muted pain and music to my ears.

I rummaged through my bag, rustling scrunched up balls of paper, tickets and chip packets, clinking coins as I pulled out my camera. Click. Flash.

And reality was captured; a picturesque scene of masterful masonry, bustling crowds of locals, the sun beaming at the memory of Mary overgrown and the new reality of things. Defiantly lying down, submissively, on the concrete pavement an old man, old reality protested in dismay as this blotch of ink ruined the candid image, even great angels paled at the sight of him.

Disillusionment spread like fire. How do I bear witness without sounding cliché, without being the sound of a broken record? It isn't about stories to share to family and friends back home nor about eyes opened. It's far simpler than that, far more profound than purpose found.

It is how it's always been, how it is, is it how it will always be?

A man with a life I'll never know or could ever comprehend. My words could never do him justice."

Perhaps you know someone who might want to have an opportunity of a lifetime? Then refer them to the Marist Challenge Gap Year.

Gap Year, is a year long programme that involves holistic formation, NZQA youth work training, work placements, experiences, and local and international travel.

The Gap Year offers the chance to develop the social, spiritual, intellectual, employment, well-being and physical elements that are required for a positive, successful and balanced life.

You can also gain some extras to get you ready including your drivers license, first-aid certificate, and technology trainingApplications are open until the end of November for the 2014 Gap Year.

For more information visit Challenge 2000's website at www.challenge2000.org.nz

Source

• Supplied by Challenge 2000
• Image: Challenge 2000

Challenge 2000 says the Gap Year programme helps prepare people for future employment, or tertiary study. All the participants will have an opportunity to develop all the elements that are required for a positive, successful and balanced life. They will be challenged to develop socially, spiritually, intellectually and physically.

This year the students come from schools all over New Zealand; Junior Selu Seumanufagai - St Patrick's College, Wellington, Courtney Halliday - St Catherine's College, Wellington, Jacob Bang - Kavanagh College, Dunedin, Hakaraia Jacobs - Hato Paora, Feilding, Anna Hoskins - Waiopehu College, Levin, Damien Don - St Patricks College, Wellington, Siata Apolo - St Catherine's College, Wellington, Anya Hodge - Aquinas College, Tauranga.

Students will undertake NZQA youth work training, participate in work placements, be provided with a wide range of different experiences, and be given an opportunity to undertake local and international travel.

They will also have the chance get their drivers licence, first-aid certificate, and to undertake some technology training!

Challenge 2000 runs the Gap Year with support from the Society of Mary. This is the fourth year that the Gap Year has been running

The participants are all people who have recently left College and are about to take their next step - work, study, or university. This year they came from from Auckland, New Plymouth, Waipukurau, Wainuiomata and Wellington.

At the graduation the gap year students had an opportunity to say what they had learned from their experience. Several spoke of about how their horizons had been expanded and how they had successfully met the challenge to achieve things that they had previously thought were beyond them.

As well as being placed with a variety of social agencies where they work for three days a week, the gap year participants helped run retreats and formation programmes for secondary and primary school aged people.

Two days each week were spent on education and formation programmes consisting of six elements: work, social, personal, spiritual, intellectual and physical. The methodology and teaching format included formal presentations, group work, "hands-on" work, reflection of experiences, guest speakers, NZQA study papers and individual projects.

In September participants were given a special placement designed to push their limits a little more. Some went to the Philippines and Vanuatu. Others participated in the Army's Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) scheme and worked with L'Arche.

The Gap year is run by Challenge 2000 with support from the Society of Mary. It is a full time project that involves NZQA training, work experience and placement in a community agency that supports participants' career aspirations and future realities. During the Gap Year participants build up each of the elements required for a balanced life: Work, Social, Personal, Spiritual, Intellectual and Physical dimensions.