Tama Hata uses sport and music to enhance his work running a Hamilton youth mentoring service.

"I love sport and I love music and when I mentor kids I see how it motivates them too."

So last year, when he ran the first Rise and Shine Festival, he used music as a drawcard to get young people thinking about the all important decision – what do I do when I leave school?

For his vision he drew inspiration from Te Puea Herangi: "Te ohonga ake i tōku moemoeā ko te puāwaitanga o te whakaaro. Dreams become a reality when we take action.”

“We try to reflect her vision for the need for kotahitanga - collectivity and collaboration of the people in order to achieve better health, education and welfare outcomes,” Tama says.

The first Rise and Shine was so popular that he had to turn several schools away, sparking the move this year to the much larger Claudelands Events Centre and expanding it to include a ‘Playground’ for physical activities and competitions. The 2013 event attracted around 3000 people.

“It was a major success,” says Tama.

“They loved the sport and the music, but we also arranged it so they had to go through the education expo. That wasn’t just information about tertiary study and careers, but also included things like how to budget, healthy eating, tikanga and te reo Māori.”

Tama says the emphasis on interactive activities was a major point of difference from other career expos, and one that really suited Māori.

“We were open to all cultures, and many came, but we designed the event to be something that would really appeal to Māori, and something that schools and other organisations could use to foster leadership among their Māori students.”

Local sports stars, including players from the Chiefs and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic were a big hit, especially in motivational talks aimed at encouraging rangatahi to strive for excellence. And many of the bands who performed in the arena space were selected as positive role models for Māori students.

Waikato Regional Director Gail Campbell says Te Puni Kōkiri used the Māori Future Makers website to inform whānau and rangatahi about opportunities and tools that could help them with career decisions.

“Our interest is in supporting rangatahi to make decisions that help them fulfil their potential. That includes letting them know the kind of jobs that are available and what they can do move into a career that suits them.

“Rise and Shine provided us with an ideal event to reach not only rangatahi, but also their whānau and their teachers,” Gail says.