Dr Deborah Lambie, of Dunedin, as the Miss World New Zealand in 2015. Photo / File
Dr Deborah Lambie, of Dunedin, as the Miss World New Zealand in 2015. Photo / File
She is a doctor and a former beauty queen - but before that, Deborah Lambie was an entrepreneur.
Now she is encouraging others to apply for a scholarship that has helped to boost a website that is being used as an educational tool by thousands of Kiwi students.
The 26-year-old, from Dunedin, is the former Miss World New Zealand 2015 and has spent the past couple years working at Wellington Hospital, after she graduated from the University of Otago Medical School.
Last year, she received $10,000 from the AMP Scholarships initiative to go towards a project she helped to establish with friend and then student teacher Dave Cameron five years ago.
The website - LearnCoach - offers learning tutorials in a range of subjects including maths, science and essay writing. They aim to help secondary students studying towards NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 as well as those at university.
"How it works is that we go through the last five years' exams and identify the 10 key skills that students will need to pass the exam," she said.
"Then we'll make a video on each of the skills that are assessed in their exam."
The team then create powerpoint presentations and other content for Cameron to present to students via videos, which also have an element of fun and humour.
Lambie said they were inspired to start the site to help students who might limited access to such classes because they lived in a remote part of the country, students who just wanted to get ahead or those who simply needed a second chance.
"I was in my third year [at university] at that time. I guess lots of people go home and there's no one to help them with their homework and not everyone can spend like, $40 an hour every week on getting someone to help tutor.
"At that time, I was tutoring people through uni and Dave had just finished Teacher's College and was teaching, then we just thought if we make some video tutorials for stuff that we're asked all the time, then we can just give it to people who we were teaching.
"It just really took off. We released it just before the maths exam that year and we thought that maybe 70 people would use it and that'd be awesome. But I think 3,500 people used it before the maths exam."
In the last year to June 2017, the site has helped more than 100,000 students who access the tutorials more than 1 million times each year.
Students can also download work books, old exams and also click onto old NCEA assessments to test themselves.
Kiwis of all ages and walks of life are being encouraged to make the most of up to $200,000 worth of AMP scholarships up for grabs to help ordinary people make their dreams come true.
The scholarships have already helped past recipients achieve success in community-focused projects, providing educational opportunities, publishing a book or starting up a small business.
Applicants only have six days left to apply - they close on Sunday.
AMP Financial Services managing director, Blair Vernon, said the company wanted to help ordinary people achieve various aspirations, ideas or dreams they had been sitting on.
"We're very proud of the support we're able to provide to help ordinary Kiwis achieve extraordinary things - from encouraging senior citizens to rediscover their passions, supporting researchers to find ways to improve people's lives, getting behind athletes who want to test their limits against the best in the world or giving performing artists the chance to share their gift on an international stage."
As for beauty pageants, Lambie says that part of her life has passed.
"I've kind of retired from that now," she laughed.
"That was really fun when I did it. But since I started working, there's been no time.''
Xu is the chief executive of Spark 64, an innovator company in the combined fields of sensor technology, software applications and cloud computing.
UV Lens is their first major patented product which has been in development over the last two years. It is a technology solution designed to address the long standing problem of over exposure to UV causing skin cancers and is now in some kindergartens so teachers know when it's safe to take kids outside and when to use sunscreen.
MELANIE GRANT
Melanie Grant. Photo / Supplied
Grant has been at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington for about 17 months as a research postdoctoral fellow in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
She is working on a clinical trial of cytotoxic T cells for leukaemia and lymphoma.
Mulla built the Longbush Ecosanctuary Welcome Shelter, which is an innovative environmental education space designed, constructed and operated by a group of passionate volunteers with the support of local businesses and charitable organisations.
He was responsible for the architecture of the buildings, the sponsorship and, in a hands-on-tools role, the leading of the 88-strong volunteer building team that realised the project.
LOU JAMES
Lou James. Photo / Supplied
James has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to people with cancer (via physiotherapy treatments).
This recognition is a highlight in her career as she continues to raise the awareness and importance of improved services for people affected by cancer in NZ.
She founded the PINC & STEEL Cancer Rehabilitation Trust and has experienced a 41 per cent growth in the number of people helped in their cancer rehabilitation programmes in NZ last year.
CIARAN TORRINGTON
Ciarran Torrington. Photo / Supplied
Since winning the scholarship Torrington has co-founded Indigo House Te Wairua O Tika.
The project in collaboration with the Far North Safer Community Council is a victim-led community driven project to support sexual abuse survivors within the community.
Her AMP winning empathy workshop is now part of Indigo House's education programme in collaboration with Northtec and will be run across Northland and within schools annually.
