Latest news with #JohnMcGlashanCollege
Otago Daily Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Shared passion for outdoors channelled into business
A pair of Dunedin high school mates have turned their passion for the outdoors into a successful multimedia business. Gabe Ross and Riley Meason, both 22, have turned weekends with their friends fishing, hunting and diving into fulltime jobs over the course of a few years. Mr Ross moved to Hawea from Auckland with his family — who sold their vodka company 42 Below in 2019 and bought Lake Hawea Station — when he was 14 and went to John McGlashan College in Dunedin from year 10. While there, he met Mr Meason and a group of friends who shared a passion for the outdoors and they began filming their adventures in year 12 and 13. Five years later, the Hawea-based duo have a successful adventure and outdoors safety vlog (video blog) series on YouTube called Weekend Mish and a strong following on social media for their content with brand endorsements from the likes of Toyota. Their vlogs include adventures into various locations around Otago and Canterbury and they provide tips about camping in a fun and light-hearted way. Mr Ross said the duo were mostly doing it for fun until 2022 when they got involved with a reality survival show called Tracked and won $100,000. "That kind of helped us kick-start the momentum," he said. It had been an absolute "whirlwind" and "a real pleasure" to see Weekend Mish grow within a few years. Their adventures had not changed a lot from their high school days, but they developed their business acumen and were posting vlogs with more of a plan and had built a merchandise store online. Mr Ross said it was always the goal to create something like Weekend Mish . Getting a business degree at the University of Otago helped him put his plans in action. "I was always going to go to uni and get a degree, but I wasn't sure what in ... after finding the entrepreneurship course at Otago I was like, sweet, that fits perfectly for me." About a year ago, Weekend Mish started looking like a steady career pathway for the duo and about six months ago they began pursuing it fulltime. "It's something that I've dreamt of since I was a little kid and I think it's something that a lot of young fellas ultimately kind of dream of just being able to pick something they love the most and just do that every day for their life. "So yeah, it's a dream come true really to be able to be building Weekend Mish fulltime." Mr Ross said he and Mr Meason had big plans. "Both Riley and I are very, very ambitious people. "We don't really want to settle for just X amount of followers and selling a bit of merch, we want to grow a big multimedia platform. "We want to build our following exponentially and ultimately just grow a really cool business that we're really proud of. "Hopefully, we can inspire people to get out and about in the outdoors and chase their own passions as well."
Otago Daily Times
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Year 11 trio win top title at Rockquest
Deaf Raccoon band members (from left) Christopher Body, 16, Leo Hill, 15, and Jamie Bradfield, 15, after taking the top spot at the Smokefree Rock Quest on Saturday. Photo: Kelsey Frost Dunedin band Deaf Raccoon are crediting lunchtime jam sessions for their success after taking top honours at a regional battle of the bands competition at the weekend. On Saturday, the John McGlashan College three-piece were shocked to hear they had beaten 14 other bands to win the Dunedin regional Smokefreerockquest final. The programme, now in its 37th year, sees bands, soloists and duos from Whangarei to Invercargill fight it out for a spot in the national final. The band is comprised of year 11 students Christopher Body, Leo Hill and Jamie Bradfield. Christopher said the three-piece were "buzzing", but also very surprised. "We were all just really confused as to how we won — all the other bands are so talented ... I just thought we had no chance." Christopher plays bass and provides back-up vocals, Leo does the main vocals and guitar and Jamie is the drummer. Deaf Raccoon band members (from left) Leo Hill, Jamie Bradfield and Christopher Body perform their set for the competition. Photo: supplied "There's always super-high tension, because we know other bands outside of Rockquest, so it seems like friendly competition, but everyone's also super-tense. "When you get on stage of course it's nerve-racking, but afterwards it was fine," Christopher said. He described Deaf Raccoon's genre as "indie-rock ska" and the group performed an original and untitled song, which was written during lunchtime jam sessions in the school music room. This was Christopher's third year playing at Smokefreerockquest, but his first with Dead Raccoon and his first since the competition was shifted from the Mayfair Theatre to the Regent Theatre. The new venue was significantly more intimidating, Christopher said. "It was a lot more terrifying this year — it's so much bigger ... but you can't see anything when the lights are on you, so it's fine once you're up there."
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Barbie-inspired Shakespeare wins awards for actor, school
Glenn Ericsson may not be plastic, but he is certainly fantastic playing a beat-up, toddler-maimed Shakespearean Barbie. The 17-year-old John McGlashan College student recently won the outstanding individual comic role award at the Shakespeare Global Centre New Zealand National Festival, in Wellington, for playing Katherina Minola in McGlashan's production of The Taming of the Shrew. The school also won the outstanding presentation from a comedy award. "We did Taming of the Shrew ... but we did it in more of a Barbie style," he said. "Two of us were like Barbies — the rest were Kens. "We didn't really change anything from the actual Shakespearean script itself, but our costumes and our set was very heavily inspired by the Barbie movie. "The way we moved was more like Barbie dolls — it was all very stiff." He said the movements added to the humour of the play. While he was delighted with the awards, he said playing a Barbie doll had its cons — particularly the amount of glitter and makeup he had to wear. It took ages to get off again, and in the case of glitter, some of it stayed stuck to him for days. John McGlashan College students (from left) Glenn Ericsson, Tim Stevens and Harper Milne perform a scene from their Barbie-inspired adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Glenn recently won the outstanding individual comic role award at the Shakespeare Global Centre New Zealand National Festival in Wellington. Photo: Peter McIntosh "It goes everywhere," he said. "The rest of the boys seem rather amused by it, to be honest." Glenn said he had been acting in theatre productions since primary school, but had been taking it far more seriously in recent years. The thing that attracted him to acting was being able to socialise with people he might not normally talk to. It was also an opportunity to step out of his comfort zone and be somebody different. "It's a form of escapism. It takes your mind off the troubles of your day, just by doing something completely different." He is considering pursuing acting as a career in Wellington, but it was still early days, he said. Glenn is now hoping to get a date — with destiny. He hoped his role as Katherina/Barbie would earn him one of 46 places in the National Shakespeare Schools Production later this year. Of those students, 24 would be chosen to travel to the Globe, in London, and to attend a two-week course in Stratford-upon-Avon. "Fingers crossed, I get selected."
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Ghillies on, aboynes donned, bagpipes ready
Highland dancers (from left) Eleanor McKay Vercoe, 10, Lara Mills, 8, Elise Cookson, 7, and Lucy McKay Vercoe, 6, are ready to perform at the 113th Annual Highland and National Dancing Championships at Otago Boys' High School today. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON While many of us will be blissfully sleeping in this weekend, hundreds of Highland and National dancers will be flinging themselves across a stage to the skirl of bagpipes. Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand Otago Centre president Shiobhan Smith said about 120 dancers of all ages, from as far away as Auckland, would be competing in the 113th Annual Highland and National Dancing Championships at Otago Boys' High School. She said the Otago provincial competition had attracted so many competitors this year because South Island dancing titles were also on offer at the championships. "So there'll be awards for South Island level dancing as well as Otago level dancing, all in the same competition." She said it was also very popular because the competition had a very long history. "The actual Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand started in Dunedin, hence why we have that long history. "A number of the cups and trophies that we give out, have been awarded since at least the 1920s. "They often have the who's who of Highland dancing from the last 100 years as winners [are] engraved on them, so there's a lot of prestige in doing well at these competitions. "It is also one of the best big competitions for competitors to compete in, in order to complete their preparations for the New Zealand championships in July." At the same time, the Otago Centre would be running the 113th Annual Solo Piping Competitions at John McGlashan College, where about 65 pipers would be vying for Otago, South Island and national titles, she said. "If we weren't doing this on a King's Birthday weekend, we'd be sleeping in. "But we're a passionate bunch. "I don't think any of us could see ourselves doing anything but. "There's no such thing as sleeping in on a weekend like this — not with all the bagpipes around." Entry to both events is free.
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Dancers, pipers to converge on Dunedin
Junior dancer Lara Mills, 8, will compete in the Otago Centre annual Highland & National Dancing Championship competitions. Photo: supplied Dunedin will host hundreds of pipers and Highland dancers from across the country for the annual Championship Piping & Highland & National Dancing Competitions over King's Birthday Weekend. The Highland & National Dancing Championship competitions will be held this Saturday and Sunday, from 8.30am at Otago Boys' High School, and the Piping Championship competitions will be held at John McGlashan College at the same time. The dancing sections will include more than 100 competitors, coming from as far afield as Auckland and Invercargill, ranging in age from under 6 years to 18 years and over. The piping championship competition will involve about 65 competitors, ranging from under 16 years to open events. Organisers from the Otago Centre of the Piping & Dancing Association of New Zealand say competition will be particularly strong across the lower grades. The competition weekend will finish with New Zealand's top solo pipers coming together for the Double March, Reel and Strathspey event, to be held at the Leisure Lodge on Saturday night, June 1, from 7.30pm. All welcome, entry costs $10. @
