The Academic Quiz comes around every year and the Year 7 and 8s have the opportunity to push their skills to the limit.

The quiz not only has math and subjects from school but other more subjects like sports, economy and music so you don’t have to know about every subject as you will have a team of 5 other students who know what they are doing as well as supporting you.

This year Mapua School submitted two teams. A year seven team and a year eight team. On the night of the 11th June the two teams set off to Nelson Intermediate. They arrived there and were welcomed warmly and got to choose where to sit. The leaders of the two teams were Georgie (year 7) and Emily (year 8). Each table had a bowl of sweets and a champagne bottle full of water and a couple of sheets of paper for the answers on the subjects that we had researched.These subjects were the Olympic Games Ancient and Modern, the Wall Street Crash, Fictional Languages, The Future of Science, The “Back to the Future” Movies, Maori Myths and Legends, The Millennium and The Swinging Sixties. As part of the quiz the teams were asked to dress up according to their team name. The Year 8’s theme was “Purple Revival” (last year they were “Purple People Eaters”) so they all came in purple and the Year 7s came as “The Mad Hatters,” with lots of crazy colourful hats on their heads. By the time everyone arrived, the noise was horrendously loud and the excitement was bouncing off the walls. Then the quiz began and the noise lowered to quiet murmurs. At first when the questions started the nerves rocketed up to the ceiling. Once that round was over everyone was more settled and laughter and jokes were spreading like a virus. Everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves. Soon people came round with chips and more water. The questions got harder and harder but the atmosphere stayed fun, if you looked around you saw smiling faces. Soon they handed in their final paper and waited excitedly (as well nervously) for the results. The host took to the stage and announced the winners.The Purple Revival came 6th and The Mad Hatters came 5th. Then came best dressed and most creative answers, the creative answers awards went to the groups who had the funniest, wackiest answers. The Academic Quiz was a overall success for both Mapua teams and we all enjoyed the night greatly.

By Emily and Sophie.   

ManHunt, A Story by Fergus.

Prologue

Nick crept along the landing of the third floor the footsteps following him up the stairs were getting closer coming up the stairs getting louder and louder, he pulled the silenced shotgun off his shoulder and aimed at the stairwell the footsteps continued to grow louder  they were coming they weren’t trying to be quiet they wanted him to hear them, feel fear, they wanted him dead.

A shadow rounded the corner of the stair well. ‘This could get messy’ Nick  thought to himself.

1. Terrorists

4 Days Earlier...

9:41am

Nick Brown sat listening to the grumbling of the planes fuselage. He looked out the window at auckland international airport, the plane gained speed and zipped down the runway. Nick felt even more lonely as the plane lifted off the ground and soared into the air, he was being sent to live with his old grandmother now that his parents were dead. His hair was like a brown waterfall collapsing over the slopes hiding one of his blue eyes. He was a muscular build for a 12 year old and loved wildlife and the outdoors. His Grandmother lived on a pinnacle of land reaching out to the sea in America. There were lots of cool islands way out to sea that you couldn’t see unless you took a boat out there and sailed about 500k’s out you would be able to see it in the distance. Auckland was now disappearing behind him, every metre of distance put between him and his birth place made him feel worse and all he could do was watch. He wished that in his parents will, he was sent to his mother's parents in california, but his dad said otherwise, so he was being sent to his dads parents in  and probably would be home schooled or not even taught things at all. Nick twirled the flint necklace he was given by his dad’s dad around and around but then he realised that sulking and feeling sorry for himself would do nothing so he leant back and started to doze off as he was in mid sleep he thought about his parents and what fun things he could have done with his life If they were still alive, then fell into a world of black.

4:15pm

Nick woke hearing a jolt as five men ran down the aisle to the cockpit. Nick looked and watched them run into the cockpit there was a yell then a gunshot. Nick shook with horror but the captain being dead was the least of his worries the plane dipped down towards the sea, Nick looked out the window and saw a beach at least a 5 kilometres swim from the planes current location. Nick stood up and listened to the screams and the yelling of two terrorists, one pointed at him and charged down the aisle at Nick.

Nick turned to run but then saw a fire axe on the wall grabbed it and turned to face off the man charging towards him.

The man took one look at the axe then looked at Nick, “ok little boy, put down the axe and I wont hurt you” His grin spread wide showing a golden tooth, but Nick knew he would so he charged forwards and jammed the axe in the ground in front of the man causing him to trip. Nick saw his chance and took it like a 5 year old being giving candy, he thrust his elbow down on top of his assailants head knocking him out first hit. Nick jumped over the man sprinting down the aisle toward another terrorist having a row with a woman cradling her baby.

The man lunged at the baby but the woman furiously thrust a punch into the man’s jaw and anyone watching easily knew it was broken. As he fell back into the aisle another desperate terrorist came running in from a toilet down the back of the plane and ripped the axe out of the ground, then without thinking the man swung the axe at a window then to the shock of everyone on board it smash through the window and lodged itself into the wing right wing.

As the wind sucked at the people inside the airplane, Nick was desperately holding on to an unbuckled seat belt he felt his hands slip but refused to give up, but then he heard a scream and watched as a boy was ripped out of his seat by a terrorist then thrown down the aisle towards the window.

Nick thought fast and stuck an arm out and grabbed the boy by his belt all most slipping off the seat belt, the boy screamed as a bag hurtled down the aisle hitting his nose causing blood to spew out. Nick pulled the boy over to him and put him in the seat the buckled the belt making sure it was tight before turning to the cockpit and pulling himself up the aisle he reached the door and flung it open. Two of the terrorists in the cockpit had no idea that the window had smashed so when the door opened they flew out of their seats and down the aisle to the window. Nick snatched the captains radio and stuttered to the passengers, “everyone stay calm and tighten your seat belts and get into the bracing position and be ready for impact.”

As the planes altitude rapidly dropped down below two thousand metres Nick’s hand slipped and he was pulled down the aisle as he tore at the ground hoping for a grip but found none. The plane was coming in at nine hundred metres of the water as Nick’s legs were sucked through the window he felt a hand grab him he turned his head to see one of the terrorists gripping him smiling evilly at him then he felt him push him through the window but he desperately grabbed the wing the plane. They were only hundreds of metres off the ground then fifty then forty, thirty, twenty, ten, then he let go as the plane crashed into the sea metres below him. He tumbled down and crashed into the sea then his world became black.