The AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand JumpStart programme, established in 2005, enables Wakatipu High School year 13 pupils to jump free from the historic 43m Kawarau Bridge.
Company co-founder and managing director Henry van Asch said school leavers celebrated in "all sorts of weird and wonderful ways" in other parts of the world, but in Queenstown there was nothing more fitting than a bungy jump.
"We know bungy gives these students an incredible boost to their confidence, knowing that if they can do this, they can do anything.
"It’s our gift of an iconic Kiwi experience to the local students who have grown up in the home of bungy, and a taste of the attitude that will see them through into the next stage of their lives."
Yesterday, Mr van Asch made a tandem jump with Steph Arrowsmith who described the experience as "amazing", despite having had first-time nerves.
"I just wanted to go again and again. Jumping off a bridge goes against all your natural instincts, but doing it makes you feel like you could do anything."
In October, AJ Hackett Bungy NZ extended JumpStart to its Auckland Harbour Bridge site site, offering all school leavers who were part of the city’s InZone Education Programme for Maori and Pacific Island youth a bungy jump for free off the 40m bridge.
