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Natalie Conroy and Madison Atkin, students - Source: ONE News -
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It has been 30 years since the Erebus air disaster, but its ability to touch even young New Zealanders has been on display on Sunday.
Two Hutt Valley schoolgirls were so moved by the recent anniversary commemorations around the country that they decided to create one of their own.
The event happened 18 years before Hutt Intermediate Year 8 students Natalie Conroy and Madison Atkin were born.
"We were studying it in class and we just thought it was really sad, because there were a few children onboard and children had parents who were on board, who went for a day trip and never came back," they say.
The girls convinced local businesses to donate a bench and plaque. Their efforts then created the capital's first memorial to the doomed flight. The display now sits in the Lower Hutt Rose Garden.
"It started as a little thought, we didn't think it would happen, it turned into something huge," say the girls.
Their teacher, Kelly Tipper says she is immensely proud of her students.
"'I've been teaching nearly 10 years and this is probably one of my proudest achievements ever in teaching," she says.
