Kiharoa Milroy

Iwi: Ngāi Tuhoe, Te Arawa

Qualifications: BTchg (Secondary) & a BA (Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori)

I have a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching at the University of Waikato.

I am of Ngāi Tuhoe and Te Arawa descent. I was brought up by my grandparents in Hamilton and attended St Pauls Collegiate School where I made school prefect. Te Reo Māori is my first language and I have long stood with confidence in both te ao Māori and te ao Pākeha. I have a young son and both my partner and I are endeavouring to raise to raise him with Te Reo Māori as his first language.

My conjoint degree at the University of Waikato included achieving an invite to be a part of the International Golden Key Society for my academic achievements, and I received a number of scholarships and grants including the TeachNZ scholarship and the prestigious Ngarimu V.C 28th Māori Battalion Scholarship which saw me flown down to Wellington for a special awards ceremony in the Parliament House. I worked as a tuakana at the Ko Tuia wānanga, participated in Te Pua Wānanga o Te Arawa, and joined Mātike Mai Aotearoa - Independent Iwi Constitutional Working Group.

I kept active outside of the University to settle my body, mind and soul doing various activities such as basketball, ultimate frisbee, waka ama, volleyball, and parkour. I have a special interest in skydiving where I have completed an Accelerated Free Fall. I also enjoy dancing, the performing arts and above all else te reo and tikanga Māori.

I chose teaching as my profession because I love it. I wish to build student’s self-confidence, self-awareness and self-belief. I enjoy working with students to identify and pursue their passions, develop their talents and skillsets, and I enjoy helping them to develop strategies that they can put in place to build a better world for themselves.

My goal is to return to my rohe to teach. I plan to establish my own school which embeds tikanga, reo and mātauranga Māori. It will also focus on self-sustainable living and life-skills, outdoor education and survival skills, and outdoor adventure sports. The school will target rangatahi Māori who are disengaged from formal education and encourage them to find their own path, to succeed and achieve in whatever they do. Kia tū rangatira rātau.