2020 NGS Super Scholarship Awards - Meet the Winners

NGS Super is delighted to announce the winners of the 2020 NGS Super Scholarship Awards.

This year’s award winners promise to be changemakers in the education sector, responding to our challenge to create ideas that will make a difference.

The six winners of NGS Super’s $5,000 scholarships in the navigating life, sustainability and general categories are:

Katrina Banyai, Sustainability Category, St Mary Mackillop College (ACT)

Passionate about sustainability and cultural awareness, Katrina will use her scholarship winnings to construct a resource book on the sustainable art practices of Australian Indigenous nations for both teachers and students. Her project will give teachers and students the confidence to engage in culturally respectful art-making practices, while also generating awareness of sustainable practices through this mechanism of learning. Katrina is excited to develop relationships with remote community art centres, elders and teachers to share, preserve and promote Indigenous art forms and culture.

Dr Keyvan Abak, Navigating life category, Wellness & Healing Counselling Centre (SA)

As a White Ribbon Ambassador, Keyvan plays an active role in promoting and educating men of all backgrounds and ages in preventing violence against women. He plans to use his scholarship winnings to facilitate the Seeing Red curriculum, which is designed to help elementary and middle-school aged students better understand anger, in order to make healthy and successful choices, and build strong relationships. This program will allow for students to be empowered, with the program including a comprehensive anti-bullying component, specifically cyber-bullying and social media. Keyvan is excited to be given the opportunity to further strengthen the Centre’s relationships with schools assisting disadvantaged youth who miss out on many activities and support.

Michelle Forsyth, General category, Port School (WA)

As the manager of the Young Parent Centre, Michelle will use her winnings to give more teen mums the opportunity to experience some normalcy by participating in a school camp where they can bring along their babies. Through partaking in various team-building and parenting support activities, young mums who attend the camp will be equipped with the skills to continue to complete their education. Michelle is excited to learn more about how educational staff can further understand the unique challenges that teen mums face on a day-to-day basis.

Kylie Sumner, General category, All Saints Catholic Primary School (SA)

Motived by the desire to share Indigenous language and culture in a targeted and authentic way, Kylie plans to use her winnings to develop a culture and language program at her school. The program will embed the Kaurna language and culture into the school by utilising local expertise. By building a language bank of Kaurna words and translating relevant school texts, like the school vision statement, Kylie has strong plans to engrain this program into her school’s culture, so it continues for years to come.

Evette Wenlock, Navigating life category, Wenona School (NSW)

Evette plans to use her winnings to develop a Mental Health Awareness Course to be embedded within a pastoral care program. The program will consist of theory and practical activities designed to promote awareness and provide strategies for young people to apply as they navigate challenges in their lives, or their friends’ lives. Culminating in a portable school-based program available to all schools, the project is designed to educate all students, not only those studying Psychology – providing invaluable benefits for young people to help develop empathy, open-mindedness, and awareness in relation to mental health.

Cameron Paterson, Navigating life category, Shore School (NSW)

Through engaging a Project Zero researcher to present a series of free webinars, Cameron wants to develop Australian educators’ capacities to challenge systems of oppression, representation and power through the topic of ‘justice by design’. The Justice by Design webinars will help participants consider connections to their own teaching contexts and will provide classroom resources to do this work with students. Cameron is passionate about these issues and strongly believes that, particularly in the context of the current environment of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements, this work has real urgency.