Media

NEADS National Student Awards, Holly Bartlett Memorial Award, Christine Nieder Memorial Award and AMI Scholarship 2015 winners announced!

(Ottawa, December 04, 2015) – The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), and our generous funding partners: Imperial, Scotiabank, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services and private donors, are pleased to announce the eight outstanding winners of the 2015 NEADS Students Awards Program, including The Holly Bartlett and Christine Nieder Memorial Awards. Six students will receive $3,000 and two recipients, respectively of the Holly Bartlett Memorial Award and the Christine Nieder Memorial Award, are awarded $1,000 in support of their tuition and student fees.

The recipients of the awards are, with their programs of study (in progress):

NEADS Student Awards Program

Scotiabank Scholarship:

Andrei Lyskov, Bachelor of Commerce and Computing, Queen’s University

Undergrad Scholarships:

Meagan Walker, BA/BSW – Social Work and Religious Studies, McMaster University;

Rosalyn Tyrer, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (Honours), Brock University;

Jacquelyn Smith, Bachelor of Sociology, University of Toronto Mississauga

College Scholarship:

Heather Jovetic, Social Service Worker, Mohawk College

Graduate Scholarship:

Holly Ellingwood, Doctorate of Philosophy in Psychology, Carleton University

NEADS Holly Bartlett Memorial Award

Bjorn Vors, Bachelor of Science in Engineering – Civil, University of Saskatchewan

Christine Nieder Memorial Award

Kelly Coxson, Doctorate of Philosophy, Social Work, McMaster University

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) Scholarships

On December 3rd, Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced the winners of the 2015 AMI Scholarship Program. The program, which launched in 2012, is open to Canadian students enrolled in a diploma or degree program at a Canadian post-secondary school. Two scholarships, valued at $5,000 each are awarded annually to students with a disability, one in English and one in French. In 2015 AMI partnered with the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) to administer and promote the 2015 AMI Scholarship Program.

The winners of the AMI Scholarship program are Jack McCormick of Tillsonburg, Ontario and Louisane LeBlanc from Montreal, Quebec. Jack is studying Business Administration at Wilfrid Laurier University and Louisane is studying Traductology at Concordia University.

"Congratulations to the 2015 NEADS Awards winners and the recipients of the AMI Scholarship,” said Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, Director of the Student Awards Program. "We received over 200 applications for the 2015 competition. Choosing the winners was an extremely difficult process. The achievements and perseverance of all candidates were just incredible. The dedication and success of this year's winners truly embodies the spirit of all NEADS Student Awards programs and the AMI Scholarship. We wish all winners the very best in their programs and careers and look forward to watching their future success. The Awards Programs wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our donors, and we are grateful to our corporate and private supporters.”

"I applaud the winners of the 2015 awards. I am very excited that our association can help support these very deserving students in their education careers,” said Emily Duffett, Chair of NEADS. “These scholarship programs are truly great initiatives that see many deserving applicants each year and these programs continue to grow. Thank you to our generous supporters for making it happen."

About the NEADS Student Awards:

The NEADS National Student Awards Program is offered to encourage full access to post-secondary education for persons with disabilities, who often have greater barriers to participation in higher education, as well as extra costs because of their disabilities. Students must currently be registered in and continuing at post-secondary institution and provide documented proof of registration as part of the application and on receipt of the award. The award is offered to outstanding applicants who meet the criteria of the program. The awards are paid directly to the post-secondary institution (in the students’ accounts) that the recipients are attending to defray the cost of tuition fees for post-secondary study.

About the NEADS Holly Bartlett Memorial Award:

The Holly Bartlett Memorial Award was established by the NEADS board of directors after the passing of Holly in 2010. Holly Bartlett served on the NEADS Board of Directors as the association’s Nova Scotia Director for a number of years. Holly's accomplishments, in a life that was way too short, were phenomenal. The Holly Bartlett Memorial Award is a tribute to Holly. The scholarship assists students with disabilities realize success in post-secondary education. This is the fifth year for the Award in Holly's memory.

About the Christine Nieder Memorial Award:

The Christine Nieder Memorial Award was established in 2015 to commemorate the life and contributions of Ms. Christine Nieder, NEADS Board member, who passed away in July 2014. The award will be offered to a graduate student with a disability per year in the amount of $1,000 in recognition of Christine’s passionate work to address barriers faced to participation in graduate programs of study.

About the AMI Scholarship Program:

Information and eligibility requirements for the 2016 AMI Scholarship program will be posted on the AMI websites in the New Year. Visit www.AMI.ca/scholarship and www.AMItele.ca/bourses for complete details.

About Accessible Media (AMI)  Inc.

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) is a not-for-profit multimedia organization serving more than five million Canadians who are blind, partially sighted, deaf, hard of hearing, mobility or print restricted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s mission is to make accessible media for all Canadians. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca. For more information, please contact: Janis Davidson Pressick, Communications Manager 800-567-6755 ext. 0971, janis.davidsonpressick@ami.ca

Look for announcement of intake of applications for all NEADS Awards programs early in 2016 on the NEADS website: www.neads.ca

-30-

For further information contact:

Frank Smith, National Coordinator National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) Rm. 426 Unicentre, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6 tel. (613) 380-8065 ext. 201 frank.smith@neads.ca www.neads.ca

"Supporting access to post-secondary education and employment for students with disabilities"




Top