High school grads collect thousands in scholarships

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

Graduating Strathmore High School, SHS, students were presented with $100,600 in scholarships this year alone. The Rutherford Scholarship is a prestigious award, which recognizes academic excellence in high school students. Students are encouraged to keep an 80 per cent average in their courses for Grades 10, 11 and 12 to receive the full amount of the scholarship. 

“We always encourage the kids to do well in all of their courses, including their options, because those marks can be calculated into the average which determines whether they get the scholarship or not,” said Karen Harris, a teacher at SHS. 

It’s based on all three years, which a lot of them aren’t. If a student does poorly the first two years and well the last, they would get the Grade 12 money, or vice versa. Not all of the money awarded out this year was necessarily for students who graduated this year.  

“The money is held in perpetuity, so they can go back when they are 40 if they want. They just have to phone the Heritage Scholarship Fund people and say ‘ok, I’m going to school now’ and then that money is provided to them,” said Harris. 

The former student must be going to post-secondary school. Then they must apply for the scholarship, and then there is communication between the Alberta government, the Heritage Scholarship Fund and the post-secondary institution. They make sure the student is registered there, and if they are they receive a check for the full amount, which is sent directly to them.  

“We’re very excited that our students have done so well and then also that they’re accessing these funds to go to university or post-secondary institutions with,” said Harris. 

The teachers at SHS meet with everyone of the students in their Grade 12 year and go through eligibility, calculating their averages.  If the student appears to be eligible the teachers are given application forms, which they provide to the eligible students.  

“Some schools just list it as another scholarship and they don’t provide the information for the kids. We feel it’s necessary that the kids know about this one because it’s a way of recognizing their academic excellence throughout the years so we make sure that every eligible student gets the application form,” said Harris. 

Each eligible student needs an 80 per cent in English and two more academic subjects. They can take two other classes, be they options or core courses depending on what the marks are like, and then average them in as well.