News

Families, friends, community members, teachers, Stars staff and special guests have come together at Stars Awards Nights across Australia to celebrate the resilience, hard work and achievement of our wonderful young women during 2018.

On a hot and humid night in Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, more than 150 people, including Member for Nhulunbuy Yingiya Guyula MLA, joined together to see our amazing Yirrkala Stars receive public acknowledgement of their hard work and commitment throughout 2018.

Year 12 graduate, Gamburruwuy Wunungmurra, was awarded Star of the Year for her outstanding commitment both to her education and to the Stars program. Her beautiful speech contained some encouraging words for the younger students who are stepping up into senior school next year.

“I’d like to say thank you to Stars for helping me achieve my goals and supporting me to go to school every day. Also, to the new senior secondary students. I want all of you to finish your Year 12.

“To do this you need to come to school every day and ask Stars for help. Listen to your teachers and come to school on time. Good Luck to you all!”

In Townsville, our Heatley, Thuringowa and Pimlico Stars held their first ever Stars Awards Nights, with the hard work, persistence and resilience of our girls and young women being recognized and celebrated by families, friends and community members.

Stars Founder and CEO Andrea Goddard said it was a privilege to be able to attend two of the Townsville Awards Nights.

“It was fantastic to celebrate the achievements of the Stars from Townsville over this first year of the program’s operation.

“There was so much love and pride and it was wonderful to share the experience with families, community and our wonderful Stars teams.”

Back in the Northern Territory, our Nightcliff Middle School Stars were proud to receive formal recognition of their commitment and hard work at the 2018 NMS Stars Awards Night.

Many of the students have spent the whole three years of their time at the school being supported by the Stars program. Year 9 Teachers Award winner, Tamsyn Tapper, spoke about her journey with Stars and the big impact it has had on her life and her education.

“I am a year 9 Indigenous student at Nightcliff Middle School. I first started my journey with the Stars Foundation when I was in year 7 and have been lucky enough to spend my whole middle school with the program.

Stars have helped me a lot with my studies, personal problems in and out of school and my attendance. Stars have given me a comfortable environment to talk and to just hang out when I need. I really like Stars because they take us out on excursions to many places where I would not get to go normally and have fun. Stars makes me proud of who I am as a person and what I stand for.”

The Stars Awards Nights are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the courage, determination and hard work of all our girls and young women, who achieve amazing things with the support of their passionate and dedicated Stars Mentors.