When Joshua Thomson first heard about Project K, he was "cruising along" at school, achieving average marks and struggling with his fitness.
But 18 months after joining a Project K programme, the 17-year-old has won an award for achievement.
Joshua was one of three Auckland students awarded an achiever's prize this
week by Project K, a youth confidence programme, which is partly sponsored by the Herald.
Established in 1996, Project K helps to build self-esteem in teenagers by assigning mentors to work with 13 to 15-year-old students for 12 months, helping them to set and achieve goals.
"As a country, we're not very good at building anyone up," said Judith Hutchinson, a Project K spokeswoman.
Joshua, who finished the programme last December, said Project K helped him to set goals for the first time. Last year he achieved an impressive swag of School Certificate results and, today, he is captain of his school's soccer team.
"It's really helped me to concentrate," he said. "It sort of picked me up and put me back on track."
Joshua's mentor, Nick Clements, volunteered in November 1999, after being invited to take part by his employer, Carter Holt Harvey, which also sponsors Project K.
Mr Clements, a marketing projects manager, said he had been rewarded by improvements in Joshua's performance at school and on the sports field.
More than 170 teenagers are taking part in the programme.
Outstanding student awards also went to Takapuna College students Kirsty Schoeman and Robert Crimmins, as well as Joshua.
The finalists were Northcote College student Amy-Jane Collins, Takapuna Grammar student Jamie Foster and Otahuhu College students Helen Eiao, Emily Timo and Hikunga Metua.
