Grassland resident Morgan Heatherington has won one of the Inter Pipeline bursaries for 2019.
Heatherington, who graduated this year from Boyle School has entered the two-year land and water resources program at Olds College and hopes to follow in her father’s footsteps working at Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (Al-Pac), located 50 km northeast of Athabasca.
Inter Pipeline has been giving back to the communities where the company operates in for over 16 years by way of their bursary program called Discovery Awards, according to a press release from the company.
The program supports youth by providing scholarships to high school students who are pursuing a post-secondary education in an industry related field and Heatherington choosing land and water reclamation fits the requirement.
Heatherington can also work for pipelines testing water and soil when she’s done college, she said in a phone interview.
“Anything that is reclamation I would have to replant the trees and the vegetation and all that,” she explained.
Heatherington is hoping to get a summer job at Al-Pac to gain more experience.
The bursaries are granted to high school students who have demonstrated academic achievement and community support and have a financial need. In addition to first-year post-secondary students receiving grants, Heatherington can apply for an additional bursary for her second year of post-secondary education.
In 2019, 47 bursaries of $2,000 were awarded by Inter Pipeline to students in communities all over Alberta and Saskatchewan. The total funds distributed through the program was $94,000 this year.
To apply for a bursary, students need to check with their school as the whole process is done through the high schools. The application form must be completed and signed by a school guidance counsellor or principal.
It was vice principal Larry Irla and post-secondary counsellor Nancy Keith-Amero who nominated Heatherington for the award. Neither were available for comment due to school being out last week.
She is grateful for being nominated for the award and thanks Irla and Keith-Amero for putting her name forward.
“It helps so much, definitely,” Heatherington said. “I was so happy to receive that one; $2,000 that's a crazy amount.”
