Scholarship winners recognized

by Sean Previl

St. Clair College has recognized this year’s scholarship winners at an evening celebration.

The Windsor college held its scholarship awards nights Feb. 19 and 20 for more than 400 students.

The celebration is held every year in February by St. Clair College Foundation to recognize its scholarship winners.

“Any help we can give them is really important,” said John Strasser, president of the college. “It’s great if we can make their study a little bit easier.”

The event is not just for the students. According to the vice president of college and community relations John Fairley, it’s also about those who donate the money to the students.

“Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent and trade associations across Ontario and Canada who are saying, ‘I want to invest in St. Clair College students, I like what you’re doing (and) I like your faculty’,” said Fairley.  “So it’s a celebration all around.”

Although some scholarships are given out by the college itself, like the St. Clair College Foundation Scholarship, many of the awards come from donors in the region.  Donors such as the Windsor Police, say the scholarships are about supporting each other.

“One person’s success is definitely the other person’s success,” said Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick, who was presenting the John Atkinson Memorial Scholarship.  “So when we’re all connected like that, it’s important that we recognize each other and really pay tribute to the achievements of others.”

Tim Rivard, who was one of the recipients of the Valiant Machine & Tool Inc. Scholarship, said the best part of the night is getting to meet and network with the donors.

“It’s great to see the donors and receive the scholarships, but the face to face time, to actually get to know the person and get your name out there, is more important,” said Rivard.

According to Christina Gatto, executive director of the St. Clair College Foundation, more than 300 scholarships were given out this year totaling approximately $315,000 worth of financial aid, with multiple winners for several awards.

The final scholarships of the year will be given out at the college’s Thames Campus in Chatham Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.