28 Waikato incoming tertiary students received $6,000 each this year, as part of the David Johnstone Charitable Trust scholarships.
28 Waikato incoming tertiary students received $6,000 each this year, as part of the David Johnstone Charitable Trust scholarships.
Dozens of Waikato students have been given $6000 each to help fund their tertiary education.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the David Johnstone Charitable Trust trustees handed out $168,000 to 28 students this year.
Cambridge High School, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville, and Matamata College students were all recipients of the scholarship fund.
The trust was established in 1991, the year after the death of Johnstone who was a pioneering farmer in the Waikato and a philanthropist, with the first scholarships handed out in 1993.
Before his death, Johnstone specified that the Trust would support science, engineering, teaching, and tech students, who mostly came from rural communities and planned to apply their skills in rural settings.
Eight recipients of the scholarship will study these subjects at Wintec-Te Pūkenga, and 21 students will study the same at the University of Waikato next year.
Ash-lee Barker (left), from Morrinsville College, was a recipient of the David Johnstone Charitable Trust scholarship.
Past recipient of the scholarship in 1998 Kavitha Babu was supported in her first year as she took up a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Waikato and then went on to do a Master’s degree and PhD in chemistry.
Babu now works at world-leading milk testing laboratory MilkTestNZ as the sales and marketing manager and was the former-student speaker at the annual scholarships awards ceremony this year.
“I learned about the scholarships at my high school, Te Kauwhata College, and because I had always enjoyed science I thought a [Bachelor of Science degree] was the best way to start my tertiary education. The scholarship went a long way in helping to not worry about the financial side of studying.
“To any Waikato high schoolers thinking about how to fund the next stage of their education, applying for scholarships is a great way to help you with your studies – it is another level of support and allows you to focus” she said.
Kirsten Kilian-Taylor, manager of the Perpetual Guardian Foundation, which manages the trust, said Johnstone was a person of remarkable empathy and foresight.
“He could never have known the particular obstacles and hardships so many young people in the Waikato region would face over the past 30 years. In recent times we have found ourselves presenting the scholarship awards via Zoom, and students have embarked on their tertiary careers remotely.
“This year’s scholarship cohort, pursuing degrees in nursing, teaching, climate change, engineering, science, animal technology, horticulture services and more, is another talented and determined group of young people whose hard work and ambition is befitting of the life and legacy of David Johnstone”, she said.
Johnstone’s vision for the trust was to provide financial assistance to deserving students, especially those who might not otherwise be able to expand their knowledge and make higher academic achievements.
The trust deed stipulated that funds must be used to support Waikato youth in tertiary education in the fields of science, engineering, teaching and technology.
A total of nearly $3.9 million has been disbursed by Perpetual Guardian on behalf of the trust since the annual scholarships began in 1993.
