Home »
Rotary scholarships awarded to five local students
Five outstanding, local post-secondary students have less to worry about financially this year thanks to more than $5,000 they received from a unique scholarship program operated by the Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary Club.
The scholarships are awarded annually and go to post-secondary students in their third, fourth or fifth year of studies when fewer scholarships are available and students experience greater financial need.
In the 2014-2015 academic year, one more scholarship than normal was awarded because of the high academic quality of the applicants, says Sunrise Rotary Scholarship Program chairman, Alex McLeod. “Applicants are evaluated equally on three criteria; academic merit, financial need and volunteerism and this year’s applicants were truly outstanding.”
One of the scholarships is always awarded to a fine arts student and this year’s winner was Zach Smith who received $1,500 to pursue his third year Bachelor’s Degree in music composition at the University of Victoria. Smith is going to try to break into writing film music when he graduates.
University of Lethbridge third year student Jessica Bermel received a $1,000 scholarship towards a Bachelor Degree in Management, majoring in marketing and minoring in international management. Bermel plans to continue her studies in Poland at the Poznan University of Economics.
Another $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Thea Rodgers, a third year University of BC student. Rodgers is enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Program majoring in Plants and Soil Science with a minor in Environmental Science. She hopes to work in ground water and soil remediation and eventually pursue a master’s degree.
Stephanie Murray, a fourth year Ryerson University Bachelor of Technology student, received a $1,000 scholarship. Murray, who is minoring in marketing, plans on working as a manager in digital imaging, printing and the graphic arts industry.
Meanwhile, University of BC fifth year student Neil Dobie received a $1,000 scholarship for his Bachelor Degree studies in Mechanical Engineering. Dobie is specializing in thermal fluids and hope to volunteer in the future for Engineers without Borders.
McLeod says all the scholarship recipients had excellent academic records, demonstrated financial need and were active volunteers in the community. All of them were also graduates of Mount Baker Senior Secondary School and several of them also attended the College of the Rockies.
Application information is available every year by early August and can be found on Sunrise Rotary’s webpage at: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/926. Closing date is in early September. Scholarships are open to any student who graduated from the Cranbrook area either from Mount Baker, private schools, charter schools or home-schooled students.
Scholarships are funded by revenues generated by the Sunrise Rotary annual film series and the Rockies Film Festival which is being held this year March 5-7 at the Columbia Theatre except for the grand opening at the Key City Theatre March 5.
McLeod says community support of the Film Festival and series is greatly appreciated by both the club and the Scholarship Committee.
Submitted by Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary Club
