Jason King and Valance Smith

Jason King

Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Waikato te iwi
Ko Ngāti Mahuta te hapū
Ko Te Koraha te marae
Ko Tahāroa te papakāinga

I tupu ai a Jason i te rekereke o ōna mātua, o ōna tūpuna ki roto o Tahāroa, ki Kāwhia, ana, nō Waikato, nō Ngāti Mahuta ki te hauāuru ia.

E ngākaunui ana a Jason ki ngā āhuatanga o te reo Māori, ka mutu, nō ngā rangapū tautahi ia o Te Panekiretanga o te Reo Māori. Te aumangea o te tangata nei ki tōna reo Māori, nā whai anō ia e tōmau ana ki āna mahi tito waiata hei huarahi whakaputa i tōna reo Māori.

I kuraina e ia ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ki reira riro i a ia tana tohu whakaako i te tau 1994, tōna Tohu Paetahi ki te reo Māori me te Mātauranga i te tau 1995. He mea whiwhi tōna Tohu Paerua i te tau 2003. He pūkenga matua ia i Te Ara Poutama, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki-makau-rau.

Valance Smith

He kaiako a Valance Smith (Ngāpuhi, Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta) ki Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki-makau-rau.  Ka whakaako ia i ngā akoranga reo Māori (tohu paetahi), me te akoranga Tikanga Māori (tohu paerua).  He akoranga anō ōna ki Te Puna Mātauranga.  He pōtae anō ōna hei poukaiora, hei kaiwhaikōrero anō hoki mō AUT. Kātahi anō ia ka oti i tana tohu kairangi. 

He tirohanga hou, he whakamāramatanga hou tēnei mahi rangahau i te uaratanga o ngā reo waiata hou hei whakatairanga i te reo Māori.   Ka mutu, ka āta matapakitia te uaratanga o ngā waiata kua titoa katoatia ki te reo Māori, me te uaratanga o ngā waiata kua titoa reoruatia.  Nā konā, he rauemi tēnei rangahau hei āwhina i ngā māhita, i ngā kaiwhakaako me ngā kaimanako katoa o te ao puoro, ka mutu, hei taunaki anō hoki i ngā mahi o Te Ipukarea, arā, ‘Whakareia te kounga o te reo’.