Sara Keung Scholarship Recipient 2022
We are extremely excited to announce the recipient of our Ngāti Toa Teaching Scholarship 2022 is Sara Keung (nee Katene). We recently caught up with Sara to find out more about her amazing journey in Education and what inspires her to continue her studies.
E mihi nei ki a koe e Sara, me ō pukenga maha, ō wawata maha, ō ringa raupā e hāpai nei i tō whānau, hapori, otirā tō iwi. Kia māia, kia manawanui i a koe e whakawhānui ana i tō matauranga ki te Whare Wānanga.
Pānuitia e te iwi!
Sara me ōna tamariki Tyler, Asher me Chase.
Kia Ora,
My name is Sara Keung (nee Katene). My grandparents are Bill and Kahuwaero Katene and my parents are Kerehoma and Lynne Katene. I was raised on the Gold Coast, Australia from the age of 4 but always had a desire to come home. When I was 18 I came back home to Hamilton New Zealand. I am married to JP Keung, we live in Templeview, Hamilton with our three children Tyler (14), Asher (12) and Chase (10).
Our youngest son Chase was diagnosed at 18 months old with Autism and Global development delay. When he was diagnosed, he was non- verbal with high behaviour needs. When I asked of resources and support to help me learn how to help me, I was told to expect very little in terms of his academic, social and emotional success. As a whānau we were devasted. I knew very little about Autism so I turned much of my energies into researching, attending courses, reading, and networking with others to learn more about Autism and to learn the best ways to help Chase. I also spent time working as a Teacher Aide with other young children with special needs. That allowed me to experience and learn from different children, their challenges and triumphs together with their whānau as we travelled the same path together. Fast forward a few years and Chase is happy, doing well and working hard to achieve his goals at school. We are fortunate that Chase is at a wonderful school, where a large part of our students and staff are whānau from Ngāti Toa. This provides a strong, positive learning environment surrounded by Aunties, Uncles and cousins. These experiences inspired me to pursue a career in Teaching.
I am in my last year studying Bachelor of Teaching - Primary through University of Waikato. I love teaching, and have a passion to work within the field special needs education. Our special needs children are our taonga, with their own unique gifts and talents that make them who they are. As a Teacher, I feel that it’s my role to recognise these special attributes and use them to help our children really thrive, achieve and succeed.
I’m grateful for this Teaching scholarship. In the future I plan to complete a Masters Degree Education psychology or Education leadership. I hope to have an opportunity to contribute my experience and skills to help our whānau, especially our children within our iwi. I am proud to be from Ngāti Toa and feel excited for the future of Education within Ngāti Toa.
Ngā mihi nui koutou,
Sara Keung
