Winners of Tuition Prizes Announced
NOTE: A social media version of this release, including photographs, video and audio interviews with winners, can be found at http://gov.ns.ca/news/smr/20090626missiontuition.asp .
Four Nova Scotia high school students have each won $5,000 in tuition for a Nova Scotia university or college of their choice through the online game Mission Tuition.
Mission Tuition was designed to encourage more high school students to plan careers in Nova Scotia, by making them aware of the range of successful business and job opportunities here at home.
More than 2,300 people played the interactive online game on www.brightcareerfutures.com, a website designed to tell Nova Scotians about opportunities in growth sectors such as aerospace, finance, skilled trades, IT and health.
The four winners, randomly chosen from more than 900 entries are: David Cann, Riverview Rural High School (Sydney); Kelsie Johnston, Sackville High School; Alessandra Pagnottella, Sacred Heart School (Halifax); and Allison Rand, Bridgewater Junior and Senior High School.
"It was a fun thing and you got to learn about your own province, which isn't something that you get the chance to do very often," said Mr. Cann, who plans to study engineering at Cape Breton University. "I want to be close to home ... to go to work and to college.
"It is a great place to be; I just love it here."
Ms. Johnston will use her prize at St. Francis Xavier University this year.
"The game was actually really interesting; I didn't know we had all of those businesses that did cool stuff," said Ms. Johnston. "Honestly, I really love where I live. I've done some travelling in my life, and its just made me realize what an amazing place Nova Scotia is and how lucky I am to be from here."
Mission Tuition featured six companies throughout the province. Players searched for clues to answer questions and collect six game pieces. A super-spy called "N" served as their guide.
"We want our young people to have the information they need to make important decisions about their future," said Frank Corbett, Minister responsible for Communications Nova Scotia. "We also want them to know that Nova Scotia can be a part of that future. Students have told us they don't know where to find the information they need, now they do with brightcareerfutures.com."
Although the game has closed, www.brightcareerfutures.com remains as a resource. The website was developed by the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, Nova Scotia Business Inc. and Nova Scotia Come to life.
This was the first year for the game, which can be used in subsequent years.
"This type of opportunity appeals to students because they are connecting to reliable information about interesting careers, while having fun at the same time," said Julie Lohnes, guidance counsellor at Bridgewater High School. "I fully endorse Mission Tuition as a valuable learning experience and a great way to earn some money for post secondary studies."
Winners of the secondary prizes are: Patricia Howells, Dartmouth High School, a MacBook Pro. Christina Donovan, Breton Education Centre; Geoffrey Hay, Charles P. Allen; Andrea Markus, Halifax West High School; Jenna MacNutt, Oxford Regional High School; and Justin Arbuckle, Dartmouth High School won iPod Nanos.
Mission Tuition is just one of many initiatives, programs and campaigns carried out by Nova Scotia Come to life. The goal of Come to life is to ensure Nova Scotians and others see the province's positive and powerful attributes and advantages.
FOR BROADCAST COPY:
Four Nova Scotia high school students have each won five
thousand dollars in tuition for a Nova Scotia university or
college of their choice through the online game Mission Tuition.
Mission Tuition was designed to encourage more high school
students to plan careers in Nova Scotia, by making them aware of
the range of successful business and job opportunities here at
home.
More than 23-hundred people played the interactive online
game at w-w-w dot bright career futures dot com, a website
telling Nova Scotians about opportunities in growth sectors such
as aerospace, finance, skilled trades, IT and health.
The four winners are: David Cann, Riverview Rural High
School (Sydney); Kelsie Johnston, Sackville High School;
Alessandra Pagnottella, Sacred Heart School (Halifax); and
Allison Rand, Bridgewater Junior and Senior High School. They
were chosen from more than 900 entries.
Although the game has closed, the website remains as a
resource.
A complete list of winners is available at w-w-w dot bright
career futures dot com .