Vimy Foundation awards twelve students from across Canada: "Future leaders"
selected as Beaverbrook Vimy Prize winners

MONTREAL, April 9 /CNW Telbec/ - The Vimy Foundation is proud to announce today the 2010 winners of the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize, a prestigious scholarship awarded to students from across Canada.

"Through their impressive submissions, these future leaders have proven themselves to be the most deserving of this exciting opportunity," explains Vimy Foundation Educational Coordinator Audrey Belanger. "It is our hope that the experience of the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize will further inspire them to share their knowledge of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and its role in the evolution of Canada."

    
    The 2010 winners are:
    - Reid Dobell (King, ON)
    - Michael Dover (Saint Catharines, ON)
    - Jillian Epp (Calgary, AB)
    - Ian Harrison (Hamilton ON)
    - Daichi Ishikawa (Vancouver, BC)
    - Prasanna Iyengar (Fredericton, NB)
    - Arielle Legere (Halifax, NS)
    - Sarah Neuburger (Saskatoon SK)
    - Lauren Roy (Pointe-Claire, QC)
    - Michelle Sanlon (Niagara Falls, ON)
    - Iain Summerby-Murray (Sackville, NB)
    - David Wagner (Montreal, QC)
    

Because of the quality of this year's applications, the Vimy Foundation has also selected several honourable mentions. This is the first time honourable mentions have been made as part of the scholarship competition. Honourable mention recipients are:

    
    - Norman Chung (Saint Catharines, ON)
    - Natalia Handziuk (Toronto, ON)
    - Meagan Hendersen (Beaconsfield, QC)
    - Nicholas Noble (Langley, BC)
    - Scott Spiering (Aurora, ON)
    - Vincent Yam (Vancouver, BC)
    

The Beaverbrook Vimy Prize brings together youth aged 15-17 years old from Canada, the United Kingdom and France so that they can better appreciate their intertwined history and the lessons that can be learned from the First World War. Winners will take part in an intensive scholarship program in Europe in mid-August. They will participate in educational seminars and museum events in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium, including visits to the iconic Vimy War Memorial and other historic battlefields and gravesites. The program is made possible in part by the generous contribution of the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation.

The Beaverbrook Vimy Prize is awarded annually on the basis of essay submissions from students across Canada. Concurrent competitions also take place in the United Kingdom and France.

About the Foundation

The Vimy Foundation is a registered charity founded in 2006 to make young people more aware of the vital role Canadian soldiers played at Vimy Ridge, a landmark engagement of the First World War. Inspired by those events, the Foundation created the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize, a unique scholarship experience for youth from Canada, the United Kingdom and France. To mark Vimy Ridge Day (April 9) the Foundation encourages Canadians to wear a Vimy Pin - available from the Foundation - and to attend commemorative events. To learn more, visit www.vimyfoundation.ca.

For further information: and interviews: Andrew Ross, Ravenhill Communications for The Vimy Foundation, [phone], [email protected]