Learn Earn Legend! sparks passion for education

Indigenous education programme Learn Earn Legend! is empowering Aboriginal youth to finish high school and pursue higher education or fulltime employment, says program co-ordinator and former Wallaby, Jim Williams.

Learn Earn Legend! is a New South Wales mentor programme for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students in year 11 and 12. The programme is supported by NSW Rugby and funded by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, pairing Indigenous teenagers in their senior high school years with mentors.

“Learn Earn Legend! is open to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students anywhere from Sydney to all the way out in Central-Western NSW,” Jim said.

“We provide the students with academic, career and emotional support throughout their senior years. The program supports students by helping them to find what they’re passionate about, then identify the pathway to succeed.

“We hope to create a generation of passionate and dedicated students who are now role models to other Indigenous students in their own right.”

Jim said the programme, which was established in 2012, had a 100 per cent success rate with 17 students continuing into university or fulltime work so far.

One of these students is Stacey Millgate, who is working towards her own career in Indigenous education. Stacey is currently employed as a learning support officer during her gap year to help guide other students towards their own goals and inspire them to stay in school.

Stacey said she’d had an interest in working with children and education, but lacked confidence that she could secure a position at university, and had consequently elected to not receive an ATAR from her HSC.

“No one else in my family has gone to university and I never thought I would be able to either. Before I joined Learn Earn Legend! I was just aiming to finish Year 12 and find a job after high school,” she said.

“Jim was a fantastic mentor to have because he encouraged me to chase my dream and go to university. He kept me motivated with my studies during the HSC, helped me organise to sit the STAT test so I could apply to university without an ATAR.

“After having that goal to work towards, I became a much more focused, hardworking person.”

Stacey not only did well in her HSC, but also received two university offers. She said the self-confidence she gained from Learn Earn Legend! made her decide to apply for a job as an Aboriginal Education Officer and Student Learning Support Officer (SLSO) at Rooty Hill High School in Western Sydney.

Working with other Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students on a daily basis, Stacey’s job sees her helping students learn the best way for them to study, running small tutoring groups and assisting students in class.

“Before Learn Earn Legend! I wanted to help children but didn’t know how – now my only problem is deciding where to focus my energies because there’s so much I can do to help Indigenous youth achieve their dreams and get as far as they can in life,” Stacey said.