Hāwera High School graduate Sam Harvie is the most recent recipient of the Ohangai Centennial Teaching Scholarship from the Winifred Knight Trust. The $1,000 Scholarship is awarded annually to a first-year teaching training student from Hāwera High School and is gifted on the successful completion of their first year of study.

“Gaining this scholarship means that I can put money towards my living and tuition costs while studying in Hamilton. It’s definitely a huge relief that I have some extra funding to help me make it through the year,” says Sam.

She is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Primary Teaching at the University of Waikato and is also hoping to achieve enough credits to gain a minor in Human Performance Science.

“In the future, I hope to use what I’ve learnt in sport and health to motivate children in my classes to keep active. I think it’s important for children to find a way to exercise that they enjoy, so that they can not only have physically healthy lives but are also mentally healthy when at school.” She says.

The distribution comes from the Ohangai School Centennial fund through Taranaki Foundation’s Winifred Knight Trust, which was originally established by retired Hāwera school teacher Winifred Knight when she passed away in 1991.  Administration of the Winifred Knight Trust was transferred to Taranaki Foundation in 2015, and the Foundation has continued to honour her wishes, using income from the fund to support community projects in South Taranaki.

“I know that Winifred devoted her life to her community and those around her. I think I resonate the most with wanting to give back to my community. All of my dream jobs have always been about protecting the community, for example, police officer, lawyer, soldier or teacher. That’s what makes teaching worth the long hours and hard work –  seeing the difference you can make in the children of the community.”