High School Boys Honour Retiring Teacher With Moving Haka

Students at a New Zealand high school chose to give a moving farewell to a veteran teacher with a rousing performance of the haka at an assembly earlier this year.

Guidance counsellor John Adams was a teacher at Palmerston North Boys’ High School for 30 years, starting out as a substitute teacher in science and agriculture studies in February 1986.

As seen in footage viewed more than 300,000 times, hundreds of students performed an emotional haka in the school’s hall on on April 14, 2016. The haka is a traditional war cry, dance, or challenge from the Maori people of New Zealand. While the haka is memorably performed at the start of sporting events, it is also used to acknowledge distinguished figures.

A note from the school’s rector, D M Bovey, said Adams had drawn on his previous experience as a dairy farmer, in forestry and as a possum trapper to “put his teaching into context for the young men in his classes.”

“This has played a significant role in the outstanding academic results his classes have achieved.” Credit: Palmerston North Boys’ High School via Storyful