Teens gain skills for success
Bay students among those who’ve completed confidence-building youth programme
Four students — two from Te Puke High School and two from Pa¯pa¯moa College — have completed the 2022 Acorn Foundation Dale Carnegie Youth Programme.
They were among 22 local scholarship winners who recently received their graduation certificates.
Reuben Dwan and Emma Howie from Te Puke High and Ariella Midwood and Rajvir Garcha from Pa¯pa¯moa College were selected to attend the course that was funded by the estate of the late Mary and Roy Mcgowan and has been offered to local students since 2010.
“Thanks to this wonderful support from Acorn donors Roy and Mary Mcgowan, dozens of Te Puke High School and Pa¯pa¯moa College 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 chief executive Lori Luke.
Year 13 students from 11 Western
Bay of Plenty schools were selected for this programme.
The three-day course teaches the Dale Carnegie five drivers of success: Building greater selfconfidence; 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 youthfocused course which helps young people improve both their selfconfidence 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 before attending the course.
“My biggest benefit of the programme was learning about gaining co-operation,” said Ariella. “This is a big part of my sporting career, and I’ve been able to put this in place in my sports team, and the culture has really improved.”