Thousands in scholarships awarded to First Nations high school grads, returning students
- EFN Staff | January 12, 2018
A total of $75,000 in scholarships has been awarded to recent high school graduates and returning post-secondary students from local communities and First Nations in South Central Saskatchewan. Kellsie Gamble, 28, from Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation was one of the lucky recipients.
The first-year student in Resource and Environmental Law at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Prince Albert heard about the scholarship during her time as a receptionist in Duck Lake. She saw an advertisement posting on the BHP scholarship and started inquiring about it. She wasn’t sure if she was eligible for it but with encouragement from her peers, she took the chance and applied. Last August, she found out that she was one of the lucky recipients for the award and was taken by surprise.
“I was pretty happy. I wasn’t sure if I would get picked…I had big competition,” she said.
Gamble, mother of two, is funded through Saskatchewan Indian Training Assessment Group (SITAG) to complete two years of her program. She hopes to a land a career as a conservation officer once she is completed her studies.
Gamble encourages others to apply for scholarships even if you doubt your capability of receiving it.
“I would encourage people to apply for it, it’s pretty easy,” she said.
Fourteen scholarships each with a value of $2,500 were presented to high school graduates from 10 schools in the Horizon School Division surrounding BHP’s Jansen Potash Project in collaboration with Carlton Trail College of Humbolt. As well, 16 youth from six First Nations communities received scholarship awards totalling $30,000.
Carlton Trail College administers the scholarship program on BHP’s behalf and provides a committee that adjudicates the applications and selects the recipients based upon an evaluation process. Since the program’s inception in 2013, BHP has made available over $320,000 worth of scholarships which has supported over 100 students.