Rotorua Boys High School Y12 student Taipari Walker is part of a delegation that will travel to visit NASA in Houston.
Supported by NZQA and Callaghan Innovation, Walker has been involved with Massey Universities Pūhoro science programme which has enable this opportunity.
The Pūhoro Academy fosters young Māori school pupils in science.
Walker says, “Science is an opportunity of a lifetime. I’ve come from Edgecumbe and to see me going to Houston- it’s a pretty big opportunity that I took and I just encourage everyone else grab any opportunity that they can and just give everything a go”.
These coming school holidays, Taipari will be traveling to Houston. He is one of 15 students from years 13 and 12 who have been chosen from the Pūhoro programme.
Nicky Wallace, Head of Science at Rotorua Boys High School says, “Taipari is one of those young men that you can’t help but admire. He is very humble, he tries his best...he really gets it, he understands what he is doing in class. He is a natural leader”.
He is currently a live-in student of Rotorua Boys High and his inspiration for doing what he does is his whānau.