Souths Cares hosted a special graduation ceremony yesterday for the Nanga Mai Marri (Dream Big) students who completed their HSC in 2016. The Nanga Mai Marri (Dream Big) program is a school-to-work mentoring program facilitated by Souths Cares for Indigenous high school students.
Rabbitohs players Cody Walker and Brett Greinke along with Souths Cares Ambassador Beau Champion attended the graduation and spoke about their own experiences following their dreams and achieving their goals.
Souths Cares Ambassador Beau Champion explained the students had reason to be extremely proud of themselves.
"The students who achieved their HSC have shown a great commitment to their education, and should be proud of their achievements. This is just the beginning for our students and they no doubt go to achieve more great things in their future careers," said Champion.
Souths Cares General Manager Cain Slater also praised the success of the program.
"To have a 95% success rate for our students obtaining their HSC is phenomenal, particularly when the national average for Indigenous students completing their HSC is unfortunately as low as 60%," said Slater.
"This great result is a testament to the hard work of our mentors Kiara Maza and Danny Allende, as well as the participating high schools in the Nanga Mai Marri (Dream Big) program."
Souths Cares would like to acknowledge and thank the participating high schools: Alexandria Park Community School, J.J. Cahill Memorial High School, Matraville Sports High School, South Sydney High School and Tempe High School.
The Nanga Mai Marri (Dream Big) program is supported by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.