Joe and Fay Gock are outstanding people – generous, hard working, and deeply caring about the New Zealand that they came to as refugees in the 1940s.
I first met the Gocks in 2014, when I interviewed them for the Connected science journal, developed by Lift Education and published by the Ministry of Education. They’d just won the Bledisloe Cup – no ball, tackle, or try in sight.
It was the Bledisloe Cup for horticulture – an acknowledgement of the Gocks’ amazing innovation and knowledge in their field (excuse the pun). Joe Gock does everything with determination – doing everything better than he has done before. He’s a true ‘citizen scientist’ – observing, thinking, applying better processes, and trying and testing his theories.
His crowning glory was the development of a disease-free kumara, which he gave without payment to growers whose kumara were wiped out by black rot in the 1950s. He did it to express his and Fay’s gratitude to be Kiwis, and to help his fellow growers.
It’s great to see this amazing couple back in the news with the release of a wonderful short film about their story.
Whether science (horticulture) or social studies (New Zealand refugees), if you’re a teacher, there are a number of ways you could use the story of the Gocks. Here are some resources to get you started:
- ‘Winning the Bledisloe Cup’ – Connected 2014, Level 2 on Google Slides
- How Mr and Mrs Gock saved the Kumara – A short film from Loading Docs
- An interview with How Mr and Mrs Gock saved the Kumara‘s filmmakers and Joe and Fay Gock – Radio New Zealand
– Neale Pitches