Scholarships :: Acorn Foundation

Tauranga Girls' College Trust - Minola Grant Scholarship

Tauranga Girls' College Travel Award

Tasman Charitable Trust Scholarships

Te Puke High School Butler Scholarship

Tauranga Girls' College Trust - Minola Grant Scholarship

Minola Grant was born in County Berrien, in Michigan in the United States to a large farming family. A gifted and brilliant mind, her parents couldn’t afford to educate her past high school – but she was able to win a scholarship to attend university. She moved to New Zealand with her future husband Donald in 1941, settling down and developing a reputation as a fierce intellect and a gregarious hostess.

Minola never lost her passion for education – or forgot the thing that made attaining university study possible. When she passed away, she willed scholarships to Tauranga Boys’, Tauranga Girls’, and Otumoetai Colleges to help talented students achieve their potential.

The Acorn Foundation administers the Tauranga Girls’ College scholarship, which goes to 2 academically gifted students a year who have shown their dedication to their school community. This scholarship comes in the form of a grant of $6,000 over 3 years, paid out in instalments of $2,000 a year.

Successful applicants will be students of Tauranga Girls’ College who are progressing to higher education in the year after the scholarship has been granted. The scholarship will be granted by the senior staff at Tauranga Girls’ College and based on a student’s academic dedication and commitment to school life.

Tauranga Girls' College Travel Award

Having had the opportunity to travel to over 30 countries and live with other cultures, and understanding the life changing experiences that came with that, Kevin and Jean Walters set up the Tauranga Girls' College annual award through the Acorn Foundation to assist students to travel and broaden their outlook on life.

Tasman Charitable Trust Scholarships

From 2024, Acorn will be administering scholarships and grants on behalf of the Tasman Charitable Trust at six Eastern Bay of Plenty schools: Edgecumbe College, Murapara Area School, Trident High School, Whakatane High School, Tarawera High School and Opotiki College.

One scholarship and grant is available at each of these high schools annually, for students who are either undertaking tertiary study at a New Zealand institute, or students who have passed NCEA Level 2 and are choosing to undertake further training and/or have been granted an apprenticeship. Applications are made directly at each school and students who are interested in finding out more should contact their school office in the first instance.

Te Puke High School Butler Scholarship

This $30,000 scholarship for Te Puke High School students has been generously donated by local Acorn donors, George and Jill. Paid over three years, this scholarship is the largest amount ever awarded by Te Puke High School and will provide life-changing financial support to a Year-13 student heading off to full-time higher education.

George and Jill set up the scholarship is to assist an academically able and motivated pupil of Te Puke High School to attain a tertiary qualification, who might not otherwise be able to do so because of financial hardship. The basis of selection will be the student's academic merit, motivation to succeed and “in straitened circumstances” (which encompasses more than just difficult financial circumstances).

Principal Alan Liddle says the scholarship will be a "tremendous, life-long gift to one of our Year-13 students."

Please contact Te Puke High School directly for more information.