10th Birthday Party!

Current KGT student leaders celebrating!

On September 20th 2025, Kids Greening Taupō (KGT) had a 10th birthday party for our student leaders and supporters. It was fantastic to hear from some of the people who started up the original KGT programme, reconnect with past student leaders, and celebrate with present student leaders and their whānau.

We started by unveiling a sign about Kids Greening Taupō, recognising Spa Park as the original site of our student-led plantings. Mayor, David Trewavas removed the ribbon and current student leaders unveiled the sign. Thanks so much Korio Design for designing this fantastic sign for us.

After the unveiling, we moved to the gazebo area for speeches by those involved in setting up the Kids Greening Taupō programme. You can read more about how the programme began and how it has evolved over the past 10 years here. Kathryn, a past student leader talked about how she has just finished a degree in ecology, and Kairi, a present student leader talked about her experiences over the past 8 years

In true KGT fashion, there was native tree planting, and 250 trees went into the ground after we had sung happy birthday and blown out candles. We always talk about planting restoration species to create a canopy, then years later being able to plant species such as rimu, tānekaha, miro, and mātai under the shelter of the nursery crop. A few of our long-term supporters were able to plant some of these species under the canopy of our 2017 planting which was pretty special!

We held a cake competition for our student leaders and even had an adult category. The nature themed cakes looked absolutely amazing and tasted fantastic too. We want to say a big thank you to student leader, Kauri, who designed the competition flyer and certificates, and also a big thanks to our cake judges who didn’t quite realise how many cakes they were going to have to taste when they agreed to the task! The cakes were enjoyed by everyone in attendance, along with delicious platters and catering.

Thanks to Contact Energy and Podiatry at Tōtara for sponsorship of the event that paid for the delicious food, as well as the plants and the site preparation. We also have to say a big NGĀ MIHI NUI to Contact Energy for their very generous birthday present of an extra $10,000 towards our programme. So incredibly generous! We are very grateful to them for their ongoing support, with regular sponsorship towards the costs of the programme and the Take Action Fund too.

Our current student leaders ran activities that were enjoyed by everyone in attendance. Thanks to Laura from Little Miss Party Planner for setting up her party tent, activities, and face painting.

Thank you to everyone who came along and joined us for the day, and to those who have been involved with KGT over the past 10 years. We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years brings us!

Read some of the speeches here:

Rachel Thompson full speech here

Sian Crowley’s full speech here

Kensie Gard:

Kids Greening Taupō was one of the most incredible experiences of my high school years, and I am incredibly grateful to have been part of such an important initiative for our rangatahi. I have always had a passion for the environment, and KGT not only nurtured that passion but also gave me opportunities to grow as a person. My time with KGT inspired me to continue pursuing conservation and environmental work, and I am now in my third year at the University of Canterbury, studying Environmental Science with a major in Ecosystem Health and Biosecurity. The skills and knowledge I gained through KGT continue to open doors for me today. Last summer, I was fortunate enough to receive an internship with the Waikato Regional Council at their Taupō office doing catchment management work. When I got the phone call that I had got the role, they specifically mentioned how valuable it was to see the work I had done with KGT and the community. KGT provided me with real world experiences that I still use as examples in job interviews to this day. I will always be grateful for the opportunities, connections, and inspiration that came from my time with Kids Greening Taupō.