Wildbore 1 (Awahou South School) Traditional Cache

Awahou South School was a one-room country school in the Pohangina Valley, Manawatu opened in 1902. When it opened, it had a roll of 20, and by 1907, the number had increased to 32. Many of the early teachers were young and inexperienced. One teacher was only 16 years old, just two years older than the oldest pupil. As transport improved and numbers of children in the area declined, the roll dwindled and had reached single figures by the 1970s. In 1972, it was closed, when it was amalgamated with Komako School on the Awahou North School site as Awahou School (which is still operating today with a roll of 40-plus students). In 1977, the school house was moved to the Manawatu Museum location as a typical example of one-room country school, where it remains today (see also Wildbore 16). To learn more about the school's history see https://envirohistorynz.com/2018/07/08/the-school-that-moved-wildbore-geocache-no-1/