Author of the article: Vincent McDermott
Publishing date: Jul 22, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 1 minute read • Savannah Graves and Sawyer Mercredi on receiving the Alberta School Board Association’s (ASBA) prestigious Honouring Spirit: Indigenous Student awards this June. They are the only students from Fort McMurray to be honoured; and only 12 awards were given across the province. These awards “celebrate exceptional First Nations, Métis and Inuit students nominated by members of their education communities, based on their exemplary leadership, courage and commitment to their cultures and educational paths.” This year ASBA received 204 nominations.
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We ended a remarkable, record-breaking year with our high school grads garnering over $100,000 in scholarships from across North America, provincial Indigenous awards, grants, and so much more.
A Fort McMurray student has been offered $270,000 in scholarships based on his academics and research projects. Saptarshi Bhattacherya, a Grade 12 student at…
Posted: May 28, 2021 8:00 AM MT | Last Updated: May 28
Saptarshi Bhattacherya showing of VADAR. It s a device he created to help people who are hearing impaired. (Jamie Malbeuf/CBC)
A 17-year-old Fort McMurray student has been offered four scholarships with a combined value of almost $250,000 for his innovative ventures in computer science. I was definitely very surprised and exciting. I m still processing the significance of all of this, said Saptarshi Bhattacherya, a Grade 12 student at Westwood Community High School. It s definitely very surreal.
He got the first scholarship offer in February and the most recent one in May.
The University of Alberta offered him the President s Entrance Citation worth $7,500 a year; the University of British Columbia offered him the $40,000 Presidential Scholars award, and both the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo offered him the $100,000 Schulich Leader scholarship.
1,433 new cases in past 24 hours.
Five COVID-19 deaths in past 24 hours, bringing total to 2,137.
15,029 people tested in past 24 hours.
2,086,589 vaccine doses administered; 39.4 per cent has at least one dose, 7.3 per cent fully immunized.
Alberta’s earliest known COVID-19 case was detected in a blood sample collected on Feb. 24. The first case was announced on March 5.
COVID-19 in Fort McMurray:
1,493 active cases (125 new cases). First case was reported in the city on March 19. Cases are based on residency and do not include the commuter workforce.
4,255 recoveries (158 new recoveries).
Alberta’s province-wide mask order remains active.
COVID-19 in rural areas and Wood Buffalo National Park: