ITI Articles

A passion for soccer and graphic design has earned Lytton High School student Jason Venema the lucky break of his life. As a key player in the school's First 11 soccer team Jason transferred his commitment and passion for this sport to his design work at school.

Jason has been awarded a scholarship to study at Natcoll Design Technology in which he will spend a year at Natcoll's Wellington campus studying for a Diploma of Computer Graphic Design. This is the first time Natcoll has awarded the NET (Natcoll Education Trust) Scholarship to students.

NET Education Trust was established by Natcoll in 2001, with the objective of enhancing education in New Zealand by extending and deepening students’ and teachers’ educational experiences in a creative and exciting learning environment using digital technology.

In 2006 the Trust has offered four scholarships to students nationally who have completed a Natcoll Creating Futures course within their secondary school. Previously the scholarships were only offered to teachers.

The scholarship enables students to pursue study towards one of Natcoll's qualifications in creative digital media.

"Jason left school in 2005 but made a decision to come back to school this year to complete his studies as he was lacking direction. The awarding of the Natcoll scholarship has had an immediate positive effect on Jason. He seems to be working harder in his art and design class and is a lot more focused, so we believe Jason will start at Natcoll next year with more confidence and a self-belief that he can compete with the other students in his design course," says Lytton High School Art and Design teacher Ana-Kura Taumaunu.

Jason's attitude towards school since he was awarded the scholarship has been very positive. As the first child in his immediate family to go onto further study, Jason thinks he will be a great role model for his younger brother who is starting Lytton next year.

"The announcement of Jason's Natcoll scholarship has boosted our school's drive to grow the Art and Design area at Lytton High. The school has also had a strong relationship with Natcoll through the development of IT programmes and this reinforces the collaborative relationship," says Head of the Career Guidance Department Craig Wilkie.

And how does Jason see the combination of passion for soccer and graphic design?

"My ideal job one day would be to do design work for an international soccer club...maybe Manchester United. This Natcoll diploma course gives me the opportunity to take the first step towards that.”