10 Outstanding Students Awarded $12,000 at CPAC Annual Scholarship Award Ceremony

March 8^th, 2015, Toronto –Education Foundation of Chinese Professionals Association of Canada (EF of CPAC), held its Annual Scholarship Award Ceremony today at the North York Civic Centre. This year, the Foundation presented scholarships, awards and bursaries to ten outstanding high school and post-secondary students for their academic achievements and community contributions.

The winner of the top honour, the $3,000 CPAC-TDIMM Prestigious Scholarship, was Burlington’s Andrew Wong, an all-rounded student who is expected to graduate from the Geography and Environmental Management Program at the University of Waterloo. Throughout university, Andrew has been a student, an environmental advocate, a student leader, a community volunteer, an academic researcher, a visual artist, an expedition photographer, a musician, a varsity athlete, a public speaker, and a journalist. He founded and led three Canadian and international youth delegations to attend recent United Nations Summits and Climate Negotiations, including the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (2012) and the COP19 UN Climate Negotiations in Poland (2013). In 2014, Andrew was named a National Geographic Young Explorer by National Geographic Society, for Andrew’s research in sustainable livelihoods of peoples of the world, particularly indigenous cultures.  In 2014, Andrew lived in the Nepal Himalaya to learn about Sherpa lifeways and then lived in Nunavut to learn about traditional Inuit hunting ways.

Another outstanding student, Heather Tang from Toronto, won one of the CPAC Awards for high school students for her exceptional achievements at the young age of 15. In addition to being a youth leader, Heather has successfully started her own product brand, VISIBL a line of LED cyclist jackets with turn signals, a technology which she has patented in the US and Canada last September. The project, won four out of six Shad Cup Awards in the SHAD Entrepreneurship Challenge in 2013.

Grace Zhang, a pharmacy student from the University of Alberta, was one of two CPAC Bursary recipients. Grace’s combined average for the last two semesters was a near perfect 98.8 in this very competitive program.

Below is the full list of recipients:

 

 

Bursaries	Name in English	Name in   Chinese	School
CPAC Bursary	Grace Zhang	张宝婷	University   of Alberta
CPAC Bursary	Steffi  Stephenson		University   of Western Ontario

“We received applications from about a hundred brilliant students this year, from across the country.   The Selection Committee had a difficult task at hand, but ultimately decided to award ten individuals based on their combined academic excellence and community involvement,” remarks Richard Lim, President of the Education Foundation of CPAC.  “EF has given out over 200 monetary awards in the past fourteen years with a total value of $235,000.  We would like to thank all of our sponsors and donors for their generous and continued support that has allowed us to fulfill our commitment in this regard. We would especially like to thank CPA Ontario, the Diamond Sponsor of the 2014 CPAC Scholarship Award Ceremony,” continued President Lim.

Ms. Soo Wong, Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, was the Guest of Honour who delivered an inspiring keynote speech sharing her experience as an immigrant kid, a striving student, and a hardworking public school board trustee and member of provincial parliament, encouraging students to get involved and make a difference in their communities.

For more related information, please visit EF of CPAC’s website at: www.cpac-ef.ca.

Founded in 1999, the Education Foundation of the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada is a registered charitable organization that provides scholarships and awards to secondary and post-secondary students who have demonstrated exceptional community leadership as well as outstanding academic achievements. The Foundation also provides assistance to students who have maintained above-average grades and are experiencing financial difficulty. Since 2000, it has given out over 200 education awards with a total value of $235,000.

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Caption:

2014CPAC Award01: Group photo of 2014 CPAC Award/Scholarship/Bursary recipients

From left: Andrew Wong, Steffi  Stephenson, Heather Wenni Tang, Weizhen Sheng, Lauren Chan, Shannon Wong, Tommaso Iacobelli, Newton Zheng

2014CPAC Award02: Group photo of 2014 CPAC Award/Scholarship/Bursary recipients, representatives of sponsors, donors, CPAC board members and Education Foundation of CPAC trustees.

2014CPAC Award03: Over 100 students and parents attended the event.

2014CPAC Award04: Mr. Jorge Cardelus, Relationship Manager, Affinity Market Group, TD    Insurance Meloche Monnex (right) presented the award to Andrew Wong, 2014 CPAC-TD Insurance Meloche Monnex Prestigious Scholarship recipient (left).

2014CPAC Award05: Ms. Soo Wong, Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, delivered an inspiring keynote speech at the ceremony.