Two Jane/Finch students win scholarships for Seneca College

Caribana™ Arts Group/Yorkgate Mall
7th Annual THINK! Scholarship

2010 recipients receive cheques at the closing ceremony of the Scotiabank Caribana/Yorkgate Mall Junior Carnival Parade

The “Caribana Arts Group/Yorkgate Mall Scholarship” Selection Committee announced on June 6th, 2010 that two scholarships have been awarded to high school students selected from Wards 7, 8 and 9 to pursue their post-secondary education at Seneca College beginning this fall. Payments will be handed out to awardees during the closing ceremonies of the Scotiabank Caribana/Yorkgate Mall Junior Carnival Parade on Saturday, July 17th, 2010.
The scholarships are fully funded by Yorkgate Mall Administration in partnership with Seneca College, Fire & Ambulance, the City of Toronto, Community Partnerships and Toronto Residents in Partnership, RCMP, Metro Toronto Police Services (MTPS) - 31 Division, and the Caribana™ Arts Group (CAG).

This year’s scholarship recipients are:

Osato Idemudia (17 years old)
Osato attends James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School, and has been accepted into the Collaboratative Nursing program at Seneca College for September 2010. She has been awarded a full scholarship of $1,000 towards her tuition at Seneca.
She volunteered as a Teacher’s Aid Assistant at Young Artists Daycare Centre in Downsview, helping with various tasks to prepare the learning environment for students aged 4 to 5 years old.

Michael Leonardo
Michael attends James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School, and has been accepted into the Computer Systems Technology Program at Seneca College for September 2010. Despite his visual disability – he uses Braille in completing his studies – he has attained a high level of success in his work. He has been awarded an honourarium of $500 towards his tuition at Seneca.
Michael has good computer skills and has volunteered at a home shelter.
“After seven years of selecting and interviewing many students for this scholarship,” says Colin Benjamin, Chair of this scholarship’s Selection Committee, “it is the first time that we have had both awardees coming from the same school. That, in itself, is unusual. But this shows that the quality of the students is highly competitive.”
Cutlines:
Left - Michael Leonardo holds the scholarship cheque that he just received from Colin Benjamin (right) at the Junior Carnival Parade held in Toronto as part of Scotiabank Caribana.
Right - Osato Idemudia and Colin Benjamin

Photos by Stephen Weir - text from a press release written by Alicia Sealey and Stephen Weir.