SUP South is back at Youthline Manukau with some incredible features including an internationally acclaimed poet all the way from the USA! Stand Up Poetry Open Mic nights make spoken word poetry relevant and accessible by providing a public platform for emerging spoken word poets. Open mic is open to all styles, ages and backgrounds. Bring a poem, verse or just yourself! Wednesday Aug. 6th 7PM Youthline Manukau 145 St. George St. Papatoetoe FREE - Sign up on the day. This is an uncensored space but hate speech free. Terisa Siagatonu is an award-winning touring poet, speaker, educator, and community organizer born and rooted on unceded Ohlone territory in the Bay Area. Her voice in the poetry world as a queer Sāmoan artist has granted her opportunities to perform in places such as the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, the 9th Annual Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia, the 2019 SF Women’s March, and FestPac 2024 with the American Samoa delegation. Her work has been published in Poetry Magazine and The Academy of American Poets and her debut children’s book The Vastness of Us is forthcoming on Penguin Books in 2026. Mafi Tufunga Tavo, born and raised in the heart of South Auckland, Ōtara 274, is a proud first-generation Tongan and founding member of the South Auckland Poets Collective and Word the Front Line. A storyteller and educator, he has spent over 16 years using spoken word and talanoa to instil confidence for every individual to speak their truth, be brave to stand up against any injustices and amplify his community’s voice.

SEMI-FINALS Heat #2 2025! It’s that time of year already! The fiercest poetry competition in Aotearoa is back in Tāmaki Makaurau! More than a poetry slam, Word - The Front Line is a community of leaders, storytellers, and changemakers from across the city that gather to connect and celebrate each other in a poetic battlefield unlike any other in the world. Come along with your whānau and friends to celebrate the top 14 high school teams, across two semifinal heats as they battle for a chance to compete at the Grand Slam. We need to show up for our rangatahi so let’s pack the house out! This year the semifinals will be taking place on two different dates. To support your favorite teams, please make sure you read the details carefully. The top 3 schools from each Heat will make it to the Grand Slam on Sept. 13th! Tickets available soon via the link in our bio! HEAT 2 Zayed College For Girls De La Salle College Dilworth School Wesley College Kelston Girls' College Mount Roskill Grammar School Glendowie College Sat. August 16th 1PM @ Herald Theatre! $10 Waged/ $5 Unwaged

SEMI-FINALS Heat #1 2025! It’s that time of year already! The fiercest poetry competition in Aotearoa is back in Tāmaki Makaurau! More than a poetry slam, Word - The Front Line is a community of leaders, storytellers, and changemakers from across the city that gather to connect and celebrate each other in a poetic battlefield unlike any other in the world. Come along with your whānau and friends to celebrate the top 14 high school teams, across two semifinal heats as they battle for a chance to compete at the Grand Slam. We need to show up for our rangatahi so let’s pack the house out! This year the semifinals will be taking place on two different dates. To support your favorite teams, please make sure you read the details carefully. The top 3 schools from each Heat will make it to the Grand Slam on Sept. 13th! Tickets available soon via the link in our bio! HEAT 1 Alfriston College Marcellin College Diocesan School For Girls Waitākere College Birkenhead College Ngā Puna O Waiōrea Tangaroa College Sat. August 9th 1PM @ Herald Theatre! $10 Waged/ $5 Unwaged

SUP WEST 🎤 It has been a long awaited return for Stand Up Poetry to head back out West and what a reception to return to! Thank you so much for coming through and experiencing a beautiful night of poetry with us. Special shoutout to our WORD teams for sharing on the mic as they prepare for semi-finals in a few weeks 👏🏻 Big mihi to Corban Estate Arts Centre for hosting us. Thank you to Nualān for keeping our winter nights warm 🎧 Thank you to our incredible double feature, Lex Shoemark and Stellar Pritchard! We are blessed to have you both in our spaces, playing various and crucial roles in each and every one of them. Next SUP coming soon 👀

Kia ora poetry whānau, friends and teachers! It’s hard to believe that we are already half way through 2025. We are heading into our busiest season but we are still currently taking bookings for Term 3 and 4 📖 Our award winning facilitation team would love to come to your school or communtiy space to run spoken word poetry workshops. We work with all year levels and can tailor our sessions to fit your class schedules or youth groups. The calendar is filling up fast so make sure you book in ASAP! 📧 Send an email to info@actioneducation.co.nz or visit our website 👩🏽‍💻

Stand Up Poetry is going out WEST 🎤 SUP open Mic nights make spoken word poetry relevant and accessible by providing a public platform for emerging spoken word poets. Open mic is open to all styles, ages and backgrounds. Bring a poem, verse or just yourself! Sign up on the day. This is an uncensored space but hate speech free. ⏰ Wednesday 16th July, 7pm 📍 Old St Michael's Church, Corban Estate Arts Centre, 2 Mount Lebanon Lane, Henderson, Auckland 0612 🎟️ FREE FEATURES: Lex (Ngāpuhi, Ngati Hine) is a South Auckland- based creative with roots in spoken word and acting whose talent has seen him perform across the country. He is a 2024 National Poetry Slam finalist and runner-up for the 2024 title. Stellar Aigalefili Makarita Pritchard is a Spoken word poet, author, and actress. She has competed in many slams: a winner of Jafa slam 2019, a word the Frontline finalist, the winner of word up 2019 and co-created in a poetry collection - Pacific Navigators.

Thank you so much to The New Zealand Association of Teachers of English for having us at their 2025 Conference! Having it take place in Tamaki felt like a family reunion where we were able to connect some of our favourite educators from the across the motu. Over the course of the conference, we were able to run multiple workshops, and WTFL Champions Rehekroero delivered a powerful performance on the Wednesday morning! English teachers are our most important partners and we cannot do what we do without you. Thank you for all that you do for your students! Special shout out to Melanie Van Ansem and the organising team for pulling off a flawless event. We hope you enjoy the rest of the school holidays.

SUP Central was ON 🔥 Thank you so much to everyone who came and supported our poets, either on mic or in the audience, in questionable weather; we appreciate you! Special shoutout to our WORD whānau for showing up and sharing. Big mihi to Grey Lynn Library for hosting us in your warm space. A huge shoutout and thank you to our double features, Kate Laughter and Jai Selkirk! Your presence in our communities is important and hearing your stories reminds us of our why. Thank you! Thank you to Nualān for keeping the vibes high! Next SUP will be dropping very soon, in a new location 👀

Rā Toikupu took place a few weeks ago which brings together the 14 teams who advanced from our regional heats for WORD – The Front Line 2025! This day is centred around whakawhanaungatanga - bringing together our young people through poetry, kai and workshops. It is a stepping stone as they journey through WORD and build everlasting connections and foster creativity. We have a village to thank who made this all possible! A big mihi to Te Mahurehure Marae for hosting us. We are so grateful to continue to be in your beautiful space and experience your Manaakitanga. Thank you for taking care of us and our rangatahi! Another big thank you to Peniel Fa’amausilii and Sole Photography for capturing these vital memories for our WORD whanau. Thank you Nualān for spinning the decks all day! To our coaches, guest performers, and staff – thank you for continuing to show up for our rangatahi and us. To our teachers – thank you for all your hard mahi, everyday! The support we have from you does not go unnoticed especially being aware of how important your role is in the lives of your students. A special mihi and mention to Whaea Alice for her incredible leadership helping to guide our waka through her position on our board and supporting us in person on the day. Thank you so much to our poets for creating this experience with your truths and creativity. A huge shout out and thank you to the generous support from Auckland Regional Arts and Culture, Creative New Zealand and Foundation North. #SEEYOUATSEMIS!

SUP Central is back at Grey Lynn Library!!! Stand Up Poetry Open Mic nights make spoken word poetry relevant and accessible by providing a public platform for emerging spoken word poets. Open mic is open to all styles, ages and backgrounds. Bring a poem, verse or just yourself! FREE - Sign up on the day. 📆 Wednesday 2nd July 📍 Grey Lynn Library, 474 Great North Road, Auckland ⏰ 7pm This is an uncensored space but hate speech free. Features: Jai Selkirk is a Natonal Poetry Slam Finalist, WTFL Slam Champion and Auckland Slam Runner Up. Blending elements of Rap with Spoken Word Poetry, Jai showcases a slick wordplay with raw truth telling. When not on the mic you’ll find Jai navigating his forklift with the same precision he would his words. Kate Laughter is a filmmaker, writer, spoken word poet and WTFL alumni born in Amerika, descending from Tokomaru Bay in Tairāwhiti (Ngāti Porou). She is a recent graduate of South Seas: Film & Television School and has a background in the performing arts as well. She writes about reclaiming whakapapa, language and her cultural identity as an urban Māori. She will be attending Te Wānanga Takiura next year, studying Rumaki Reo.

SUP SOUTH 🌊 Thank you so much to everyone who came through for Stand Up Poetry Open Mic last week! It felt like its own showcase which attests to the talented communities we are blessed to be a part of. Big mihi to our double feature, Vitinia and Bridg3! From participants in our programmes, to alumni and now solo artists on all streaming platforms, we are proud to witness and support your journey’s. Check out ‘SHILOH’ by Vitinia and ‘WHAT YOU TRYNA DO’ by Cocoshakim, Bridg3 and Creationkit 🔥 Shoutout to our DJ, Nualān, for keeping the room warm while the weather is cold. Thank you Youthline Manukau for hosting us, we appreciate you! Keep your eyes posted as we will be announcing July SUP soon 👀

Mānawatia a Matariki ✨ Matariki is a time of reflection, celebration and preparation. The three key principles for Matariki are Matariki Hunga Nui (Remembrance), Matariki Ahunga Nui (Celebrating the Present) and Matariki Manako Nui (Looking to the Future). The 2025 theme of Matariki mā Puanga is all about inclusion, embracing diversity and celebrating Matariki together. Whether we celebrate big or small, we can all connect to the core values of Matariki and Puanga and embrace the diverse ways for marking the new year. To start the celebrations, we have a beautiful poem from the Ngā Puna O Waiōrea 2022 Word - The Front Line team. #Matariki #matarikimāpuanga

It is with a heavy heart that Action Education mourns and celebrates the incredible and beautiful life of Jess Rayner. Jess passed away, peacefully and surrounded by those she loved, on Monday night 9 June 2025. Jess was a much treasured and loved alumni of Action Education. She was vivacious, fearless and tuff. She was not here to muck around, but to own mics and set stages and rooms ablaze with her wit and laughter. Jess’s journey with cancer was brief, but so courageous. We hear that she remained graceful throughout, staying positive at all times, and somehow managing to be the calmest person in the room despite being the one facing the hardest challenges. If you would like to donate in support of her family during this time, please send any koha to 06-0217-0987061-03 (account name: Marcus Mackenzie). If you knew Jess and would like details of her service, please message us directly.

Stand Up Poetry is back out South with a double feature 🎤 SUP open mic nights make spoken word poetry relevant and accessible by providing a public platform for emerging spoken word poets. Open mic is open to all styles, ages and backgrounds. Bring a poem, friend, verse or just yourself! Sign up on the day. This is an uncensored space but hate speech free. 📅 Wednesday 18th June 📍 Youthline Manukau, 145 Saint George Street, Papatoetoe ⏰ 7pm Noah Brown, Artist Name: BRDG3 is a WTFL Alumni and De La Salle Old Boy where he began his poetry journey back in 2019. Now he is a multidisciplinary creative who’s art focuses around his community and culture as the backbone of all he does. Vitinia is a Fijian-Niuean sister and creative from South Auckland with roots in theatre, spoken word, music, and cultural performance. From school plays to Polyfest leadership, international showcases to youth poetry coaching, her journey is grounded in storytelling and community. A Southside Navigator since 2022, the Te Karanga Trust programme has helped shape her music path. Since debuting last year, she’s performed seven shows and is steadily building her presence as a live artist, with her debut project which has been released this week, ‘SHILOH’. Streaming everywhere 🎧

🚨 MERCHANDISE DROP! 🚨 Last year we reached out to our community, and you came through. With your support Action Ed was able to navigate one of the most difficult periods in our organization’s history. It was not just our Raisley account that received help. Thanks to merchandise sales, and some generous private donations, we are much closer to our 2025 goal $15,000 than it seems. But we are not out of the woods yet… We are extending the timeline to 30th June! To help us get there, we have some brand new, EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE, designed by award winning, Indigenous North American Artist and friend of Action Ed. We have 6 different designs that feature Action Ed’s beautiful new brand patterns. $75 for a shirt $130.00 for a full set Check out the link in the bio for details! 👕

Ia Manuia le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa 🇼🇸 Happy Samoan Language week! The theme for this year is 'Ia malu lou sā. Folau i lagimā – A well-grounded self, is a successful self.' We celebrate this week with a beautiful poem written and performed by Naomi from Slice Of Southside 2023. #GaganaSamoa #SamoanLanguageWeek2025

Last nights Stand Up Poetry featuring @koromikoz was incredible! We packed in @studioone.toitu. Such a range of styles and stories. The mic was warm even the weather wasn’t. If you’re keen to share make sure to keep an eye out for our next SUP coming up soon.

Action Education is excited to celebrate Youth Week, which is a nationwide festival of events organized by young New Zealanders to celebrate the talents, passion and success of local young people. The 2025 Theme is Take Our Place – Whai Wāhitanga. Youth Week aims to amplify young people’s valuable contributions to their communities. We want Aotearoa to be a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic who are supported and encouraged to take up challenges. We will be posting a poem everyday from incredible young people in our community taking their place and making positive change! To round off Youth Week NZ 2025, we have Zayed College For Girls at Slice Of Southside 2024! #YouthWeekNZ25 #aotearoa #spokenword #poetrycommunity #indigenous

Action Education is excited to celebrate Youth Week, which is a nationwide festival of events organized by young New Zealanders to celebrate the talents, passion and success of local young people. The 2025 Theme is Take Our Place – Whai Wāhitanga. Youth Week aims to amplify young people’s valuable contributions to their communities. We want Aotearoa to be a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic who are supported and encouraged to take up challenges. We will be posting a poem everyday from incredible young people in our community taking their place and making positive change! Next up, we have a beautiful poem written and performed by Ngā Hinepūkōrero. #YouthWeekNZ25 #aotearoa #spokenword #maori #poetrycommunity #indigenous

Action Education is excited to celebrate Youth Week, which is a nationwide festival of events organized by young New Zealanders to celebrate the talents, passion and success of local young people. The 2025 Theme is Take Our Place – Whai Wāhitanga. Youth Week aims to amplify young people’s valuable contributions to their communities. We want Aotearoa to be a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic who are supported and encouraged to take up challenges. We will be posting a poem everyday from incredible young people in our community taking their place and making positive change! Next up, we have a powerful poem written and performed by our 2021 Word - The Front Line Champions from Marcellin College. #YouthWeekNZ25 #aotearoa #spokenword #maori #poetrycommunity #indigenous

Firstly, congratulations to all of the students who were a part of our North/West, Central, and South & East Regional Heats over the last two weeks. We send out a huge mihi to all the poets who stepped up to their front lines and spoke truth to power into this space! Massive shout out to all of our incredible teachers and whanau who came out to support, we could not do this without you. Was so awesome to see so many new teams and poets come through this year alongside some familiar faces. You all represented yourself, your schools and your communities so strongly, you should all be so proud! All four heats were incredibly fierce! Thank you for allowing us into your world, both judging panels felt incredibly humbled, privileged and inspired to hear your voices and stories. We are blown away by the courage, strength and talent that has been displayed by all the teams in all the regions. Every year the bar gets raised but this year in particular was an extremely tough decision and the judges certainly had their work cut out for them. If you do not see your name below please make sure you check out the post for, He Reo Rangatahi invitational programme. Your voice, your story, your place is so important, we see you, we hear you. We will make sure that we build as many spaces as possible for your voices to be amplified. We will be in touch to talk about the next steps and what other opportunities we have for you. So in no particular order, here are the 14 teams who will advance to the next stage of Word - The Front Line 2025: Zayed College For Girls  Alfriston College Team 1  De La Salle College Team 2  Dilworth School Marcellin College Team 2  Waitākere College Team 1  Diocesan School For Girls Team 1  Wesley College  Birkenhead College  Kelston Girls’ College Team 2  Mount Roskill Grammar School Ngā Puna o Waiōrea Team 2  Tangaroa College Team 2  Glendowie College

We are beyond excited to announce the first year of our He Reo Rangatahi programme. This is a spoken word incubator programme which has both online and in person workshops led by Aoteroa’s leading poets and artists. You will also receive mentoring and coaching similar to Word - The Front Line. It has it’s own slam and only participants from He Reo Rangatahi will be invited to enter.   This is an incredible opportunity to hone your craft,  amplify your voice, receive quality mentoring and many platforms to flex your pen and rock the mic. We will be releasing the full programme next Friday which we will send out to your teachers.  In no particular order the schools we are inviting onto this programme are as follows: Henderson High School Team 1 and 2  Waitākere College Team 2 Kelston Girls’ College Team 1  St Dominic’s Girls’ Catholic College  Ormiston Junior College Team 1 and 2  De La Salle College Team 1  Papatoetoe High School  McAuley High School Mount Albert Grammar School Michael Park School Ngā Puna o Waiōrea Team 1 Onehunga High School Diocesan School For Girls Team 2  Marcellin College Team 1  Tangaroa College Team 1  Alfriston College Team 2

SUP Central is back at Studio One — Toi Tū! Stand Up Poetry Open Mic nights make spoken word poetry relevant and accessible by providing a public platform for emerging spoken word poets. Open mic is open to all styles, ages and backgrounds. Bring a poem, verse or just yourself! FREE - Sign up on the day. Wednesday June 4 7PM This is an uncensored space but hate speech free. Feature: Koromiko Jacob-Williams is a poet, facilitator, aspiring filmmaker, and creative who hails from Tauranga Moana(Ngāiterangi, Ngātiranginui) but currently lives in West Auckland. They are a member of the spoken word poetry group Rehekōrero, who have performed and competed at the New Zealand National Poetry Slam, Laneway Music Festival, Splore Festival, and more. They write about Te Ao Māori and issues facing their culture while touching on what it’s like to be a rangatahi and wāhine Māori. Currently, they’re studying for a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in film at AUT and hope to write and release a collection of poetry in the future.

Action Education is excited to celebrate Youth Week, which is a nationwide festival of events organized by young New Zealanders to celebrate the talents, passion and success of local young people. The 2025 Theme is Take Our Place – Whai Wāhitanga. Youth Week aims to amplify young people’s valuable contributions to their communities. We want Aotearoa to be a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic who are supported and encouraged to take up challenges. We will be posting a poem everyday from incredible young people in our community taking their place and making positive change! Next up, we have a powerful poem written and performed by Ivy, Ange, Laith & Hari. #YouthWeekNZ25 #aotearoa #spokenword #maori #poetrycommunity #indigenous

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