Crescent Collegiate Student Named 2011 Pearson Scholar

Erin Bonisteel, a Level II student at Crescent Collegiate in Blaketown, is the recipient of the 2011 Lester B. Pearson Scholarship, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most prestigious scholarship.

“Erin’s family and friends, as well as her teachers at Crescent Collegiate, have much to celebrate,” said the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education. “This highly-accomplished young woman was selected on the basis of her academic achievement, school and community involvement, as well as her personal qualities. She is certainly to be congratulated on this outstanding achievement.”

The Lester B. Pearson Scholarship is valued at $34,000 annually, for a total of $68,000 provided for two years of study at Pearson College, a United World College in Victoria, B.C. In September, Erin will be among 200 students selected from more than 100 countries to be enrolled in the college’s pre-university International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program.

Erin is involved in several school and community activities. She participates on the cheerleading, soccer, basketball, and synchronized figure skating teams at Crescent Collegiate. She has been involved in figure skating outside of school as well, competing at the senior bronze level, participating in the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games, and volunteering as a CanSkate program assistant. She is also a strong swimmer, and recently achieved National Lifeguard certification.

The Provincial Government supports two students from Newfoundland and Labrador studying at Pearson College each year. Erin will join Kaitlin Strong from Lethbridge, Bonavista Bay, who received the 2010 Pearson Scholarship and will be entering her second year of the two-year IB program in September.

For more information on Provincial Government high school scholarships, visit: www.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/highschool/scholarships.html.

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca 

2011 06 07                                                                        11:45 a.m.