High school student from Aweres Township receives national scholarship

A 17-year-old student at École secondaire Notre-Dame-du-Sault has been selected as one of 30 people across Canada to receive the Loran Award, a post-secondary scholarship worth up to $100,000 that’s awarded each year to students based on evidence of character, commitment to service in the community, and leadership potential. 

Aweres Township resident Amelia Spacek will receive annual stipends, tuition waivers from one of 25 Canadian partner universities, mentorship, funding for summer work experiences and access to annual retreats and forums.  

“I was definitely shocked. It’s really a big honour just to be chosen to move on to the finals, and then it’s even more amazing to be selected as a finalist and just to be recognized on the same level with the other scholars that were chosen,” Spacek said. 

Spacek is the prime minister of student parliament at her school, and teaches robotics-focused coding classes for youth while serving as the captain of her school’s robotics team. In her spare time, Spacek volunteers with the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Clean North, Algoma Trad and ARCH Hospice, where she plays the piano for residents. 

“When I first heard about this scholarship, I think the biggest reason why I was more interested in applying for this one as opposed to other ones was because they are really looking at you as a person, not just your grades and how many volunteer hours you have, and what you might be on paper. They’re looking at what kind of person you are, what kind of service you’re doing for your community and volunteering, but then also why you are doing that,” said Spacek. “That’s why the selection process was so intensive, and we spoke to so many judges. Even if I hadn't been chosen as a scholar, it was just still very beneficial for me just to reflect on all the things I had done, and then why I was doing them. I don’t think I had necessarily thought about all those things before.”

Spacek says the Loran Scholars Foundation really encourages recipients to continue being leaders in their communities even after they’ve completed high school and post-secondary studies. 

“Being a Loran Scholar, for me, is opening doors to things I might not have imagined or pushed myself to do, and to be in this network of other Canadians who want to make a change and make a difference in the future of the country,” she said. 

She hasn’t finalized her decision, but Spacek is mostly looking at engineering programs at University of Toronto and University of Ottawa. But she’s unsure of what the post-secondary experience will look like in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I’m pretty excited but definitely a little bit nervous, especially with the unknown as to what next year is going to look like,” said Spacek. “I’m really hoping that in-person classes will be a possibility, but that’s still a big unknown factor. All the universities are saying ‘we’re going to try, but we might not be able to.’ So I’m definitely mostly excited for all that’s going to come, and really hoping that I’ll get to go to the campus, play some sports and just interact with everyone in my new community,”

Spacek wants to publicly thank her school for supporting her. 

“I just want to thank all the staff and students at my school, École Notre Dame-du-Sault, just for all their support since I was in kindergarten, but also for their support that they have given me through this application and interview process,” she said. 

More than 6,000 students applied for the annual scholarship, which has been touted by the Loran Scholars Foundation as Canada’s largest undergraduate merit award.