Celebration Of Dale Carnegie 2024 Scholarship Winners

On Thursday, 4 July, 22 students from schools across the Western Bay of Plenty received their graduation certificates for completing the 2024 Acorn Foundation Dale Carnegie Youth Programme. The estate of the late Mary and Roy McGowan has funded these scholarships for the last fifteen years.

Acorn Foundation CEO Lori Luke said “Acorn is so pleased to once again support the Acorn Foundation Dale Carnegie Youth Programme through the generosity of Roy and Mary McGowan. Through 2024, nearly 350 local students have been provided a scholarship to attend a youth version of a course that has taught skills to improve the personal and professional lives of millions of people around the world.”

11 Western Bay of Plenty schools provided their Year 13 students the opportunity to attend this course. This 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-focused course that helps young people improve their self-confidence and personal communication techniques.

The graduation ceremony featured a short speech from each student about what they had learned, and their experiences – with a particular highlight for many being the ability to learn new skills that will help them at all phases of their life.

Ava Dickison, a student from Tauranga Girls College, said about the programme that “we learnt a lot of very valuable practical skills that are applicable not just to your professional life, but also in your social life with new people you meet.”

For Simranjot Kaur from ACG, the confidence that the programme has given her has helped make all the difference. “For me it was just boosting my confidence for sure, as someone who over thinks a lot, I tend to stress about what other people think of me. Being here helped me learn that people worry about how they are judged by others a lot more than other people actually judge them, which has transformed the way that I think."

Congratulations to the following scholarship winners:

ACG Tauranga: Mei Lee and Simranjot Kaur

Aquinas College: Caitlin Cooper, Harry Fearn, and Ryan Williams

Bethlehem College: Amelia Newsom

Katikati College: Josh McGinty and Matija Ford

Mt. Maunganui College: Ashlee Callander and Mary Bragg

Otumoetai College: Jack Page and Rebecca Parkes

Papamoa College: Laylah Theron and Luke Blow

Tauranga Boys’ College: Michael van Lieshout and Seb Heath

Tauranga Girls’ College: Ava Dickison and Maddy Whitburn

Te Puke High School: Anahera Mark and Jess McGowan

Te Wharekura o Mauao: Kyraux Tata and Manaaki Thomas

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