Twenty-two students from schools across the Western Bay of Plenty have received their graduation certificates for completing the 2022 Acorn Foundation Dale Carnegie Youth Programme.

The scholarships for the students were made possible through funding from the estate of the late Mary and Roy McGowan and have been offered since 2010.

'Thanks to this wonderful support from Acorn donors Roy and Mary McGowan, nearly 300 local students have been provided a scholarship to attend a youth version of a course that has taught skills for success in the professional and personal lives of millions of people around the world,” says Acorn Foundation CEO, Lori Luke.

Year 13 students from 11 Western Bay of Plenty schools were selected for this programme.

'It's a great opportunity for young people to take part in, and it really helped with my confidence, public speaking and human relations,” says one of the scholarship winners, Tauranga Girls' College student Alea Starr-Smith from.

The three-day course teaches the Dale Carnegie five drivers of success: building greater self-confidence; strengthening people skills; enhancing communication skills; developing leadership skills; and reducing stress and worry.

The Acorn Foundation has long partnered with Dale Carnegie BOP Waikato and Priority One's InStep programme to offer this youth-focussed course which helps young people improve both their self-confidence and personal communication techniques.

Each of the students gave a short speech during the graduation ceremony about what they had learned – an act that many mentioned they would never have the confidence to do prior to attending the course.

The scholarship winners are:

ACG Tauranga: Molly Thompson and Harriet Barber

Aquinas College: Caprice Basile and Joshua Pinto

Bethlehem College: Breanna West and Manjot Gill

Katikati College: Asha Dinnan-Martin

Mt. Maunganui College: Tia Lassey and Dani Young

Otumoetai College: Ella Drake and Aston Hamilton

Papamoa College: Ariella Midwood and Rajvir Garcha

Tauranga Boys' College: Jed Macmillan, Liam Shanahan and Alex Padfield

Tauranga Girls' College: Ella Chapman-Hodge and Alea Starr-Smith

Te Puke High School: Emma Howie and Reuben Dwan

Te Whare Kura O Mauao: Hikitia Kuka and Toia Jacobs

The Acorn Foundation enables generous people to make a bigger impact in their communities, by investing the funds and distributing the returns to causes that matter – forever.

'From Acorn's inception in 2003 through 2021, we collectively distributed over $10 million to the Western Bay of Plenty community, supporting the work of more than 260 local charities,” says Lori.

In 2021, the Acorn Foundation gave away over $2M to 194 local charitable organisations and scholarship and award winners. Scholarships and awards reached nearly $350,000 in total and include the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, given annually at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Find out more at: www.acornfoundation.org.nz