The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Scholarship

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame / Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life announced yesterday the four student recipients of their Scholarship Award. Shad Valley is pleased to congratulate Wyanne Law, Shad alumna from McMaster 2008, who is among the recipients.

Wyanne, from Mississauga, ON, is the only Ontarian recipient of the award that is available to high school students who are aspiring to a career in medicine or the health sciences. It provides $1,000 each year towards a four-year undergraduate degree at a Canadian university. The selection is made by a committee of university representatives chosen by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.

An aspiring Pediatrician, Wyanne plans to attend Queen's university this fall to study Life Sciences before attending medical school. "I am extremely honoured to be awarded with this scholarship... not only as financial support for university to pursue my academic interests, but also as encouragement to strive for higher goals," says Wyanne.

Congratulations to Wyanne on her tremendous achievement! For more information on the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame scholarship, please click here. To see the complete list of winners, please visit this link.

Five Shad Valley alumni receive TD Canada Trust Scholarships

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate our alumni who secured five of 20 available TD Canada Trust Scholarships for Community Leadership this year. There were 60 finalists across the country, many of them also Shad alumni.

Our five alumni recipients for 2009 are:

Eden Full (See the blog entry directly below this one to read a story on Eden)
2008 Shad Valley Trent
Hometown: Calgary, AB

Vijay Jeyapalan
2008 Shad Valley Dalhousie
Hometown: Markham, ON

Vino Jeyapalan
2008 Shad Valley University of New Brunswick
Hometown: Markham, ON

Rebecca Reiss
2008 Shad Valley McMaster
Hometown: Surrey, BC

Mauricio Ruiz
2008 Shad Valley Carleton
Hometown: Whitehorse, Yukon

The TD Canada Trust Scholarships, valued at $70,000, are awarded to outstanding young Canadians who have made a difference in their community. Last year, two Shad alumni received this award and two alumni were also awarded in 2007.

Shad Valley would also like to acknowledge and thank TD Bank Financial Group for their long-term support of the Shad Valley program, through funding and internships.

To learn more about the TD Canada Trust Scholarships, please visit their website. This year’s recipients should be posted soon.

Shad Valley alumni named recipients of the Top 20 Under 20

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate four alumni who are 2009 Top 20 Under 20 honourees. Beth Ferreira, 2008 Shad Valley Memorial; Alex Shipillo, 2005 Shad Valley Memorial; Michael Xu, 2008 Shad Valley Queen's; and Xingyu Zhou, 2008 Shad Valley McMaster, are recipients of this tremendous award, announced June 3.

Beth Ferreira, from Winnipeg MB, first began volunteering at Fisheries and Oceans Canada at age 14. Now 17, Beth has conducted hundreds of hours of research, primarily focusing on less-invasive methods to test animal tissue. Winning recognition on the national stage, Beth loves to share her passion and inspire others.

Alex Shipillo, 19, is from Vancouver BC. His work with Impact Entrepreneurship group (founded by Shad alumnus Kunal Gupta in 2004) inspired him to start two major youth-oriented projects. The first, Youth Canada, offers an online resource for students interested in education and entrepreneurship. The second, Impact's Microcredit Competition, encourages social entrepreneurship among high school students through a weeklong competition to raise funds for charity.

Michael Xu, from Kanata, Ontario, founded Vestige Gear in 2008, an online, registered corporation that is a channel for collaborative, youth-generated ideas and designs. Now 17, Michael worked tirelessly to market two shoe models and sell over two hundred in ten countries. Vestige reached its goal of raising $20,000 for an all girl's school in Kenya. Funds will be used for education and clean water initiatives.

Xingyu Zhou, Shad's youngest Top 20 recipient, is only 16 but she has already worked tirelessly to discover medical related uses for tree bark in her hometown of Saskatoon SK. Traveling to the north of the province, Xingyu's work has led to findings for potential cancer-treating medicines. Her two-year project is recognized as one "with the most commercial potential" by the Monsanto Commercialization Award and received a silver medal at the Canada Wide Science Fair in 2007.

All recipients receive $5,000 towards university studies, participation in a 4-day leadership summit in Toronto and many other benefits.

The Top 20 Under 20 award rewards youth who display a significant level of innovation, leadership and achievement. A primary requirement is that their leadership and innovation has improved their school, community, province and/or country. 42 finalists are selected and 20 recipients are chosen.

To learn more, please click here and for a complete list of this year's winners, click here.

Shad alumni receive National Millennium Entrance Award

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate alumni who recently received Canadian Millennium Scholarship Entrance Awards. Over 1000 awards are given in three separate categories: local, provincial, and national. Recipients at the national level receive a $25,000 award towards their undergraduate education.

This year, over 70 Shad Valley alumni were recipients . Shad’s 13 national winners are listed below; click here to see a list of all recipients.

Adil Adatia, 2008 Shad McMaster
Eric Coomes, 2007 Shad Memorial
Sophia Dhalla, 2008 Shad McMaster
Elizabeth Ferreira, 2008 Shad Memorial
Eden Full, 2008 Shad Trent
Teal Kreuger, 2008 Shad Waterloo
Conor Kyte, 2008 Shad Laval
Lauren Long, 2009 Shad Carleton
Amy Nadeem, 2008 Shad Waterloo
Mauricio Ruiz, 2008 Shad Carleton
Sonya Wadhera, 2008 Shad Queens
Siqi Xue, 2008 Shad Memorial
Emily Yorke, 2008 Shad Laval

Miller Thomson Scholars Announced

Shad Valley is pleased to congratulate 22 alumni recipients of the 2009 Miller Thomson Scholarship, awarded by Miller Thomson LLP. The scholarship, worth $1,000, is open to students in their final year of high school, pursuing secondary education in the fall. Winners are announced in the Globe and Mail on June 27. 200 recipients are awarded in total, out of 2,660+ applicants this year.

This year's Shad Valley recipients are:

Ivneet Bains, Surrey, BC; École Panorama Ridge Secondary School
Shad Valley 2009 Lakehead University

Mitchell Cahill, Halifax, NS; Halifax West High School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Waterloo

Florence Chan, Toronto, ON; Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Andy Chau, Burnaby, BC ; Burnaby North Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 Queen’s University

Eric Coomes, Oakville, ON; Appleby College
Shad Valley 2007 MUN

Connor Emdin, Belleville, ON; Moira Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 Dalhousie University

Elizabeth Ferreira, Winnipeg, MB; Fort Richmond Collegiate
Shad Valley 2008 MUN

Eden Full, Calgary, AB; John G. Diefenbaker High School
Shad Valley 2008 Trent University

David Koke, Burnaby, BC; Burnaby Central Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 MUN

Wyanne Law, Mississauga, ON; Glenforest Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Rachel Lay, Oakville, ON; St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Waterloo

Amanda Lee, Nepean, ON; John McCrae Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 UNB

Adam Melanson, Fredericton, NB; Fredericton High School
Shad Valley 2008 Trent University

Alyssa Moledina, Toronto, ON; University of Toronto Schools
Shad Valley 2007 Dalhousie University

Jessica Moloney, St. Albert, AB; Bellerose Composite High School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Bhavika Patel, Toronto, ON; University of Toronto Schools
Shad Valley 2008 Carleton University

Andrea Quon, Lethbridge, AB; Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
Shad Valley 2008 UNB

Ankur Ralhan, St. John's, NL; Gonzaga Regional High School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Calgary

Juwan Ryu, Burlington, ON; Nelson High School
Shad Valley 2007 MUN

Ruphen Shaw, Burnaby, BC; Moscrop Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Julia Wall, Fall River, NS; Lockview High School
Shad Valley 2008 Queen’s University

Emily Yorke, Sydney Mines, NS; Memorial Composite High School
Shad Valley 2008 Université Laval

The Miller Thomson scholarships encourage and promote the attainment of higher educational goals. Students are considered based on level of academic achievement, contribution to their school and contribution of time and energy to community service programmes. To see a complete list of recipients, please click here.

Congratulations to all Shad Valley alumni award recipients!

News from abroad

Wren Laing, who attended Shad Valley Queen's in 2007, is currently volunteering in Kenya for a 2-month placement at the MCLRC (Mariwa Community Learning and Resource Centre). A highlight of her trip: meeting President Obama's grandmother (pictured above)! Please see the link to the article to read more about her travels.

Shad alumni on Discovery Channel Quiz Show

Six Shad Valley alumni will be competing throughout July and into August on Discovery Channel's QUBIT quiz show, which premiered July 4. The show will utilize new holographic technology, the first trivia show of its kind to do so. 70+ Contestants must answer a series of questions to reach the next level, competing for the ultimate prize of $10,000.

Among the contestants are the following Shad alumni (in order of air dates*):

Janice Takata-Shewchuk, Shad 1981 St. Andrew's College, July 8
Robbie Zuk, Shad 2007 Trent University, July 8
Craig Kaplan, Shad 1989 UBC, July 15
Eric LaForest, Shad 1992 Université Sherbrooke, July 22
Kristen Hahn, Shad 2001 UBC, August 5
Jordan Graham, Shad 2007 Memorial, August 8

*Episodes typically air at 6pm ET Wednesday and Saturday

Read about each contestant and learn more about Qubit by clicking on their website: http://www.discoverychannel.ca/showpage.aspx?sid=14795