What was thought to be a one-time birthday gift to the Fort Ostell IODE will now become a legacy bursary for a deserving high school graduate.
IODE members Sandy Alsop and Nellie Finnell recently announced a continuing $500 scholarship for a second-year education student.
Last fall, to recognize the chapter’s 80th anniversary, Shelley Stagg Peterson, a Ponoka graduate now a professor at the University of Toronto, presented the first scholarship. The local IODE was surprised to learn the scholarship will now carry on.
The award will be available to a graduate of a Grade 12 high school program in Ponoka.
“It doesn’t have to be a (Ponoka Composite High School) grad,” Finnell explained. “It could be a St. Augustine grad, or an Outreach School grad, or it could be a Ponoka Christian School grad in the future… or it could be a home-schooler.”
Proving that these bursaries can make a difference, Alsop said Stagg Peterson won an IODE award from the Camrose branch in 1979. She began teaching at Sylvan Heights and today is a university professor.
Interested second-year education students need to submit a letter of application and a statement of their marks from their first year of study. Applications can be dropped off at the Fort Ostell Museum. Deadline is July 31.
For more information call Sandy Alsop at 403-783-5224 or Nellie Finnell at 403-783-3609.