Local student wins major 4-H scholarship
scholarship winner - Isaiah Roemmele of Claresholm, who is in his first year of studying violin performance at the University of Alberta, recently won a $15,000 Elmer and Ona Hansen Memorial Fund Scholarship from the 4-H Foundation of Alberta. Photo submitted
By Rob Vogt, Local Press Writer
A Claresholm student attending the University of Alberta has been awarded one of the largest scholarships in the history of 4-H in Alberta.
On Nov. 21, it was announced that Isaiah Roemmele, who graduated from Willow Creek Composite High School this past June, was awarded a $15,000 Elmer and Ona Hansen Memorial Fund Scholarship by the 4-H Foundation of Alberta.
“I was very excited,” he said from Edmonton. “I didn’t expect to get it.”
Roemmele is in his first year of a bachelor of music degree studying violin performance at the University of Alberta, and music plays a large part in why he was chosen for the scholarship.
Bianca von Nagy is the director of philanthropy and planned giving for the 4-H Foundation of Alberta, and part of the committee that awarded the scholarships.
She said the recipients were selected based on a 500-word essay they submitted, where they outlined their educational goals, where they see themselves in the future once they complete post-secondary education, and what impact their education will have on the rural community.
Roemmele’s essay struck a chord with the committee.
“He wanted to go back and help his community,” von Nagy said. “He wanted to give back to his community by becoming a music teacher.
“(And) bring the music program from the larger communities to the smaller communities.”
Recipients have to be Alberta youths, be from rural areas, and have to leave home to attend post-secondary education.
They also could not yet be enrolled in a post-secondary institution.
Von Nagy said the idea is this. A student may not have the resources to go to school, so this scholarship may make the difference in them being able to afford to go.
Consequently, recipients have to provide proof they are enrolled in post-secondary and a residence or dorm receipt to prove they had to move away from home to do it.
Applications for the next Elmer and Ona Hansen Memorial Fund Scholarship will open on May 1, 2019.
Anyone interested in more information can visit www.4h.ab.ca.