Three Manitoba Residents Win CLAC Scholarships

DATE: October 04, 2011

Winnipeg—Nathan MacKrith, Heidi Wiebe, and Dustin Peters have each won $1,500 scholarships toward their post-secondary education.

CLAC awards twelve scholarships annually to members, their spouses, children, and grandchildren. As part of the competition, applicants must include a 750-word essay on a question chosen each year. This year’s essay question was, “What are three ways unions can continue to be relevant for the twenty-first century worker?”

Nathan, Heidi, and Dustin all have a connection to Education, Service, and Health Care Union, Local 306, which represents many support staff employees of the Garden Valley School Division, based in Winkler, Manitoba.

Nathan is a Local 306 member who worked as an educational assistant in Garden Valley Collegiate for two years in the life skills area because he wanted to see how the education system worked. He is now studying for his BA at Brandon University, plans on going into education, and is thankful for the support of the union with the scholarship.

Heidi is in her second year of the integrated Bachelor of Education/Bachelor of Arts program at the University of Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Donalee Wiebe, a school administrative assistant and Local 306 member. “I feel very fortunate to have received the CLAC scholarship,” says Heidi. “It is an encouragement to continue pursuing my dreams, which means a lot. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to apply and would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to apply themselves.”

Dustin is in his first year of studying science at the University of Manitoba. He is the son of Brenda Peters, an educational assistant and Local 306 member.

L-R: Scholarship Winner Heidi Wiebe and CLAC representative Derrick Martens; Scholarship Winner Nathan MacKrith