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Waipareira teacher an inspiration to youth

By Rani Timoti


Jenny Marshall leads by example.
The Massey solo mother has gained her diploma in youth studies after studying for four-and-a-half years through the Auckland College of Education and Auckland University.
That's on top of bringing up her teenage son Isaac and teaching youth who have fallen through the cracks of mainstream education.
Jenny is a tutor at the Henderson-based Waipareira Trust Alternative Education Unit.
Some of the students at the unit have been expelled from various schools and others are in Child Youth and Family custody.
The unit was established with Education Ministry funding in 1999 and because it only has about 35 students it has a whanau feel.
Tutors mainly focus on improving literacy and numeracy and are often like de facto parents.
"I had a really good upbringing and my grandparents were around. I thought I'm lucky to have that and it's nice to give back to these kids," Jenny says.
"I love the kids. It keeps you youthful."
She says she only went to school to eat other people's lunches but now realises the importance of academic achievement.
"I'm the first one to graduate in my family and it just blew them all away. The ratbag in the family graduating?" she laughs.
Jenny also had support from the Waipareira Trust, which funded her diploma, and the unit's director Mere Tunks.
When she showed her students the korowai cloak she made for her graduation ceremony, she encouraged them to also realise their dreams.
Her next goal could be a degree in social services.
 
 
 
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