(In order from left to right, Sophie Hill and Samuel Gillman (or 'Sammy G') making cheese scones and behind them is William McDonald and Bree Ingram (also shown below-photos courtesy of Brenna Quinlivan)
On Monday afternoon on the 13th of February 2017, Canterbury was struck with one of the worst wildfires in New Zealand history, an all-encompassing flame that lasted for thirteen days and enveloped 2,075 hectares of native bush, pine forest and eleven homes, resulting in the evacuation of hundreds of individuals and the release of a dozen helicopters wielding monsoon buckets and fire retardants to stem the blaze, ending sadly with one of the aircraft's crashing and killing pilot and former decorated soldier, Steve Askin. However, the Burnside food technology department refused to let the sense of helplessness get the better of them, year 11, 12 and 13 students uniting to bake approximately 200 to 300 scones for the hard-working New Zealand firefighters, the selfless Senior bakers including Brittany Corkill, William McDonald, Jasmine Rou, Samuel Gillman, Sophie Hill and Bree Ingram. This empathetic action accurately conveys the communal spirit of the Senior Division and Burnside High School as a whole, distinguishing us from our high school neighbors while showing how a simple gesture of a baked scone can make all the difference to an exhausted firefighter and a national emergency.
On Monday afternoon on the 13th of February 2017, Canterbury was struck with one of the worst wildfires in New Zealand history, an all-encompassing flame that lasted for thirteen days and enveloped 2,075 hectares of native bush, pine forest and eleven homes, resulting in the evacuation of hundreds of individuals and the release of a dozen helicopters wielding monsoon buckets and fire retardants to stem the blaze, ending sadly with one of the aircraft's crashing and killing pilot and former decorated soldier, Steve Askin. However, the Burnside food technology department refused to let the sense of helplessness get the better of them, year 11, 12 and 13 students uniting to bake approximately 200 to 300 scones for the hard-working New Zealand firefighters, the selfless Senior bakers including Brittany Corkill, William McDonald, Jasmine Rou, Samuel Gillman, Sophie Hill and Bree Ingram. This empathetic action accurately conveys the communal spirit of the Senior Division and Burnside High School as a whole, distinguishing us from our high school neighbors while showing how a simple gesture of a baked scone can make all the difference to an exhausted firefighter and a national emergency.
Where and when did this charitable idea come about?
Ms Cook came up with the idea for the scones the night before we actually made them. She wanted to do something to show our appreciation for everything the firefighters were doing to help.
Why did you choose to make the good ol' cheese scones for the Canterbrian firefighters?
Cheese scones were chosen because they are quick and easy to make in a short period of school time. We ended up making approximately 300 scones.
Do you think acts of kindness such as this are becoming more rare within our generation? (if not why not)
I think that with the amount of technology we have, we could be doing so much more for our communities than we actually do, but I know of a few people that are making the effort to organize fundraisers and other projects to aid causes, such as what we contributed to the Christchurch community.
Do you believe that because of the pain and vulnerability inflicted by the Canterbury earthquakes that this fire has impacted Christchurch far more than originally thought?
In my opinion, I think that in a way the earthquakes helped Christchurch deal with the fires because we had already banded together to help each other with the earthquakes, both with the original tremors and the recent aftershocks. I believe we found it easier to help those affected by the fires.
Did you receive any feedback from the fire department following your admirable donation?
I don't think that the firefighters said anything specifically to Burnside but I watched the news story that covered the donations from different places and they had said how appreciative they were of our donations.
Lastly, if you could leave us with an inspirational nugget of wisdom or something you have learnt after contributing to this amazing gesture?
I learnt that there is always something you can do to help in such horrible situations, even something as small as baking scones for firefighters is achievable.
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