When Alyssa Perkins walked across the stage at her high school graduation ceremony in 2021, she looked out to the audience to see not just her family, but also her mentors from The Stars Foundation. They were all there, cheering her on.
Alyssa says this moment will always stand out to her as her most memorable from her time with the Stars Foundation – an organisation that provides evidence-based education and engagement programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls in schools.
In her younger years, Alyssa struggled with attending school, but she says the support of the Stars Foundation was game-changing.
“Stars were always there,” she told Women’s Agenda recently. “They would come and pick me up in the mornings and they’d drop me home from school as well. It was such a big help and it meant I didn’t have to get the bus and I always knew that they would be there to get me.”
Alyssa says that Stars would provide lunch and snacks for her at school, and offer around-the-clock personal support, as well as help with her school work and communication with teachers.
“They would always help me with assignments. If I wasn’t sure of something, they’d be happy to read over it, give me some tips, or even email my teacher for me on my behalf,” she says.
“They provided study sessions for us, every Wednesday. They’d provide food, and give us the space and time to study. I didn’t have a laptop when I was in Year 10, so that was really helpful because I couldn’t just go home and take everything with me. To have access to the computers was a really big help.”
One of Alyssa’s mentors at the Stars Foundation was Jaylene Bonson-Constantine – one of the people in the audience cheering her on at her graduation ceremony.
“That was really special for me, especially with Jaylene, because she was there when I started in Year 7 – so I started and finished with her,” Alyssa says.
The bond that developed between Alyssa and her mentors, including Jaylene, is what sustained her to thrive at high school. It was these relationships that made Alyssa want to go to school.
“You know when you’re at school sometimes, and with the teachers it can feel like you’re just another student?” Alyssa asks.
“It was never like that with Stars, they cared for us. They wanted to know how we were, if we needed help, how our jobs were going, if we won our sport on the weekend.
“I always felt comfortable asking for help when I needed it. I felt welcomed every time I was in the room, and it made me want to go to school.
“When I went to school, I knew that I always had someone in my corner. It was a safe space to go to, and you knew you had people in your corner who would back you.”
Jaylene is currently the Transitions Coordinator in the Northern Territory for the Stars Foundation, but has previously spent years at Stars as a mentor.
Jaylene started as a mentor in 2015 when Stars was first established in the Northern Territory, and is also a qualified teacher, having graduated from university in 2018 after studying while working full-time.
She says the relationship mentors have with the girls at Stars is the cornerstone of the program, giving young women access to positive role models who they know they can rely on for support.
“We’re there every day and they know we are going to support them,” Jaylene explains. “Some of the girls face really big challenges outside of school and working with them through that is not always easy, but we are always there.
“If they see me outside of school, they’ll come up and say hi and give me a hug. It’s so rewarding that we’re making an impact on their lives.”
For Jaylene, her proudest moments in the job have been witnessing girls she’s known and supported for years, graduate from school.
“They are always my proudest moments, seeing the same group of girls go all the way through to finish Year 12, being part of their journey and mentoring them through all those years,” Jaylene says.
“Many of them are the first in their families to graduate and some of them face obstacles and hurdles that no young woman should have to deal with.They’ve just persevered to make their families proud, and make themselves and all the mentors that work with them proud.”
In a full circle moment, Alyssa is currently completing a Cert III in early childhood education, and works as an educator at the child care centre that Jaylene’s children go to. Alyssa has plans to move on to a diploma, and eventually get a degree in education.
“With Alyssa, I mentored her since she was in Year 7 right through until she graduated. I was at the school when she finished and now she’s actually working at the child care centre my children go to,” Jaylene says, noting that her and Alyssa see each other most days and still speak regularly.
The importance of Elders
This year’s NAIDOC theme is ‘For Our Elders’, a topic that both Alyssa and Jaylene speak passionately about.
Alyssa explains that oral communication is central to her culture as an Aboriginal person, and everything she’s learnt has been passed down from her Elders.
“My dad’s parents were in the stolen generation and for us, our Elders passed down everything to us,” Alyssa says. “Being Aboriginal, oral communication has always been our best form – language and storytelling – and we learn it all from our Elders.”
“I am very privileged to have my grandparents around – I live with one of my nannas and we are very close.”
Alyssa also says that the Stars Foundation played an integral role in connecting her with Larrakia Elders in Darwin, where she lives.
“We live on Larrakia land in Darwin, and through Stars, I’ve met Larrakia Elders – it’s about culture, community and your wellbeing, they really do cover everything.”
For Jaylene, ensuring that the girls at Stars, as well as her own children, are connected to culture is critical.
“My nana was in the stolen generation – she was taken from Alice Springs and she had the loss of language and family and culture,” Jaylene shares.
“I just find it so important that the girls experience culture and we embed it into the Stars program, whether it’s through the events we do or the people we get in.
“And then for my own children – I have two girls and it’s so important that I connect them with their culture and their country and pass that information on.”
Feature Image: Alyssa and Jaylene.