Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs Did you know your sponsorship can make a difference for generations to come? Christine is watching it happen.
13 September 2024
Christine, a proud Gunaikurnai woman, is a Smith Family Education Engagement Coordinator. Christine gets to work with over 90 Indigenous families and 200 Learning for Life students in Gippsland, Victoria.
Christine delivers support directly to students that helps remove the barriers poverty creates, so they can remain engaged. This is especially important in the momentous shift from primary to high school and, later on, to post-school study and work. These are crucial milestones for students’ academic success and future opportunities.
Christine delivers support directly to students that helps remove the barriers poverty creates, so they can remain engaged. This is especially important in the momentous shift from primary to high school and, later on, to post-school study and work. These are crucial milestones for students’ academic success and future opportunities.
One day Christine will be helping students transition to high school or giving career guidance. The next, she’ll be advocating for a young person in her community who urgently needs a laptop for homework. She also organises cultural events, including NAIDOC Week celebrations. None of it, she says, could happen without building trust.
Christine understands that children she works with are often supported by large families. “Grandparents may be caring for these children, and they are the ones I’ll phone or meet with,” she explains. Building wider family connections helps Christine tap into a student's support network. It can help that young person get what they need to thrive in their education and fulfil their potential.
Christine understands that children she works with are often supported by large families. “Grandparents may be caring for these children, and they are the ones I’ll phone or meet with,” she explains. Building wider family connections helps Christine tap into a student's support network. It can help that young person get what they need to thrive in their education and fulfil their potential.
Building trust is at the top of my list. I want families to feel comfortable to turn to me if they need support to keep their child in school. I can also help them get the most out of learning programs their sponsors help them access, like student2student.
Christine finds her work extremely rewarding. She gets to see the big gains Aboriginal students make thanks to sponsorship and her support. Recently, she was visiting a local hospital. There, she met a young Indigenous woman who was once sponsored by someone like you. Today, she’s about to qualify as a doctor. “It was amazing to see her there, doing her placement back in her old town,” Christine says. “I get really emotional about it because I’m so proud of them.”
Working directly with families means Christine sees first hand the impact of your sponsorship - students getting to work hard, succeed and flourish. “The best thing is seeing an Aboriginal student who has been sponsored getting to graduate from high school. Whatever that student does in life, they'll pass on the benefits and opportunities they received to their kids."
Your generous sponsorship ensures dedicated Smith Family staff like Christine can empower students to fully engage in their education, paving the way for a brighter future. Through this vital support, you are helping these students learn today and change their tomorrow.
Your generous sponsorship ensures dedicated Smith Family staff like Christine can empower students to fully engage in their education, paving the way for a brighter future. Through this vital support, you are helping these students learn today and change their tomorrow.
Read more student and family stories in our Spring 2024 edition of Real People, Real Stories
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