Selborne Primary hangs out with the Pope

SELBORNE Primary School pupils yesterday had a once in a lifetime opportunity for a virtual hangout with the Pope, with the chance to ask His Holiness anything under the sun.

Selborne was the only school in Africa and one of five across the globe selected for the Pope chat.

Deputy principal Abrie Pepler said the opportunity came about via the head of Google South Africa, who asked if the school was interested in taking part in the Google Hangout Project.

After a hasty yes, Pepler said they were immediately contacted by the head of the hangout project based in California in the United States.

“She told us that the school was included in the list but that they were still making their final selections as there were a lot of other schools on the list,” Pepler said. “While I waited for confirmation, I went about choosing 12 boys to take part in the hangout. I worked with the head boy and asked him to send me a list of the Grade 7 boys he would recommend, and we just merged that with my list.

“The boys then started putting their questions together.”

Confirmation of their participation came in the form of a package of camera and video equipment needed for the session, which was sent from the USA via courier.

“The box included everything, even a camera stand and a speaker – basically everything we would need.

“When we got it we had a hangout with just to test the speed of the responses and see if there were any glitches,” Pepler said.

The hangout started at 4.45pm yesterday with all the schools logged in at the same time.

The chat, which lasted 15 minutes, was conducted in Spanish and the public could view the hangout session via social networking site YouTube.

Google hangout is an instant video chat platform which allows for face-to-face, one-on-one video chats or chats with multiple people.

Part of Selborne’s team was Grade 6 pupil Christian Zacapa, who is fluent in Spanish, the Pope’s home tongue.

The list of questions included what the Pope did in his spare time, whether he met Nelson Mandela, what he would do if he had complete control over his citizens, and his opinion of why humanity has been separated from God.

The pupils could barely conceal their excitement.

Jonathan Grant said he was excited because the Pope was one of a kind.

Teagan Bok said not only did the session represent an opportunity to learn, but also to put the school’s name on the map. “My question was where he grew up and what his best memories of childhood are,” he said.

Pepler said: “This is huge, I don't think the boys even realise how big this is. Maybe one day when they’re telling their children about it they’ll believe it.” — zisandan@dispatch.co.za