Students from nine Western Bay of Plenty high schools have this week received their graduation certificates as part of the annual Dale Carnegie Youth Scholarships initiative run by the Acorn Foundation.

Mary McGowan with Dale Carnegie Youth Scholarship recipients Tamara Miller and Emma Rauhala.

The Dale Carnegie Course for Tauranga Youth is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The three day course empowers students to move far beyond their comfort zones as they stretch for and attain ambitious new goals.

The course itself was made possible by the generosity of Acorn Donors Roy and Mary McGowan who cover the cost for two-thirds of the course fees leaving the student to only have to contribute $300 personally.

'The Acorn Foundation Dale Carnegie Youth Programme is a great example of a unique, win - win collaboration between a number of organisations to provide multiple benefits,” says Acorn Foundation General Manager Nicky Wilkins.

'The positive ripple effects will be long lasting and we believe some of these students will be future leaders in the Bay of Plenty business community.”

The course itself also teaches the five drivers of success; build greater self-confidence, strengthen people skills, enhance communication skills, develop leadership skills and reduce stress and improve sttitude.

Acorn Donor Mary McGowan says it's heart-warming to hear the stories from the 27 graduates.

'When I read the reports from the students who have been through this course I am delighted to see how appreciative the students are and how they always comment on how their lives have been changed by this course.”

Roy McGowan died in 2012 but Mary has agreed to continue with funding this initiative.

'We're so proud of this exciting, innovative project that has become a wonderful example of local collaboration and empowerment for the benefit of not only the students but also our region's future.

'It's what we are here for and it gives us immense pleasure to be a part of this initiative,” says Nicky.

'I participated in this course in 2011 and it's great to know that since then another 75 students have been able to have the same experience we did.

'As an individual I found the Dale Carnegie program to be super-beneficial for my self-confidence and most importantly for remembering people's names.

'It also helped for understanding other people's points of view. I am now at Waikato University in my third year of a double major in accounting and economics. We have had multiple presentations and group work situations where the Dale Carnegie program has helped immensely”.

The Acorn Foundation also assists with providing a number of other scholarships, including Outward Bound scholarships, the Bob Page engineering apprentice awards, Bay of Plenty medical student scholarship, Eva Trowbridge scholarship for mature students studying at Waikato University and the Jann Medlicott Arts and Waikato University awards.