Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Optimist Club Awards 2010 Scholarships


The Coquitlam Optimist Club has presented Robert Simms Memorial Scholarships to ten 2010 graduates of Tri-Cities secondary schools. The scholarship recipients and their schools are Dora Du and Magdalena Gradowski of Dr. Charles Best, John Oh and Shima Bakhtiary of Centennial, Claudia Lee of Gleneagle, Tamana Aurom of Riverside, Katherine Liu of Heritage Woods, Germain Bralic and Michael Wilson of Port Moody and Stephanie Toth of Archbishop Carney.

The $1,000 Robert Simms Memorial Scholarship is named in honour of a long-time School District 43 educator and counsellor, who was a charter member of the Coquitlam Optimist Club. The selection of scholarship recipients is based primarily on the students’ service to their schools and the wider community. In addition, the students’ academic records must demonstrate their ability to succeed at post-secondary studies.

The 2010 scholarship recipients have chosen a wide range of post-secondary institutions. Students attending schools in the British Columbia include Tamana Aurom (University of British Columbia); Shima Bakhtiary, Germain Bralic, Magdalena Gradowski and John Oh (Simon Fraser University); Stephanie Toth (Douglas College) and Michael Wilson (University of Victoria). Students attending universities elsewhere in Canada include Katherine Liu (McMaster University), Dora Du (McGill University) and Claudia Lee (University of Ottawa).

Students attending schools in the Lower Mainland received their scholarships at a dinner hosted by the Coquitlam Optimist Club on September 8, 2010. Parents received the scholarships on behalf of out-of-town students.

The Coquitlam Optimist Club has been “Bringing Out the Best in Kids” since 1977. For more information about the club’s activities contact coquitlamoptimists@gmail.com.