Indigenous education support helps local kids become legends

Eighteen-year-old Indigenous student Jamaine Crossley is a living legend in his community after becoming the first in his family to finish Year 12 and be accepted into tertiary study, with the support of the Australian Government’s Learn Earn Legend! programme.

Learn Earn Legend! is a New South Wales mentor programme for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students in years 11 and 12, supported by NSW Rugby and funded by the Attorney General’s Department.

The programme sees Indigenous teenagers in NSW in their senior high school years paired with mentors and provided with career and emotional support to help them succeed in their studies. They are then assisted with secure placement in tertiary education or full time employment.

Jamaine, who was placed in the programme during his senior years at The Scots College at Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s east, said the support he received from the programme helped him realise his full potential and secure a position in a diploma of Sports Management at the International College of Management Sydney (ICMS) in Manly.

Jamaine said that while he always wanted to do well at school, it wasn’t until he joined Learn Earn Legend! and met his mentor, ex-Wallaby and project director Jim Williams, that he realised just how much he was capable of.

“I wanted to do well and finish school; because I don’t want to have to struggle in life. It’s just hard when you don’t know what you want to do or how to get the most out of your studies,” Jamaine said.

“Learn Earn Legend! showed me that a good education would give me better opportunities and pathways for the future. The guidance and support of Jim and the programme gave me all the help I needed to get me through high school; so I could focus on doing my best.”

Students in the Learn Earn Legend! programme have access to a team of mentors, coordinators and other students to help guide them through their senior studies.

“If I needed help on studying techniques or how to manage stress and anxiety I could call Jim or another mentor, if I needed help with a particular subject they would do their best to help me or find me someone who could. I was never alone, I always had someone looking out for me,” Jamaine said.

This network of support is what Jamaine said he loved most about his involvement in Learn Earn Legend!

“Jim was a great mentor during my studies, if I needed anything, even if it was just someone to talk to, I could just call or text and he’d help me straight away or find someone who could,” he said.

“I could also talk to both younger and older kids in the program and we could share our experiences or just socialise. There were people involved in the program who’d already finished school a year or two ago and they inspired me to see what I could achieve if I worked hard too.”