Broad Bay School will receive this year’s Canon Oceania Grant of $5000 in Canon equipment and an equal amount in cash.
It means the school can begin work for a three-dimensional model or sculpture of Broad Bay and Otago Harbour that will connect to the recorded oral histories of local people through QR codes.
Principal Greg MacLeod said he and some of the school’s pupils were away on a camp when the news broke.
"I let the kids know ... some of them just went berserk with excitement. It was great."
The school would use its new "professional" recording gear to record the narratives for the project that came about after staff heard stories from past pupils about what it used to be like, and wanted to find a way to hold on to the stories.
"I am really excited about the concept in allowing our children to place themselves in the past, the present and the future ... and feel like they have some sort of autonomy over where they live," Mr MacLeod said.
He had spoken to the Dunedin City Council about funding which helped to point him in the right direction.
The school hoped to employ an artist to work with the pupils and co-create the model. With support, it was hoped the final project would be completed in 2022.
