Mentoring

The Garfield Weston Awards mentorship program provides opportunities for our scholars to engage in a one-on-one relationship with a mentor in a professional context. In consultation with their college program coordinators, each Garfield Weston scholar is matched with a volunteer mentor, who supports the scholar throughout his or her college experience. Through this relationship, scholars are provided with experiences that can maximize the value of their college education, assist them to think about the contributions they want to make to their communities, and facilitate their development and learning beyond the classroom setting. The program also provides our mentors with a context for building a meaningful relationship with an engaged citizen, and the experience of helping a Garfield Weston scholar through a critical point in their life.

Our mentors are creative and dynamic leaders with diverse personal and professional experiences, willing to share their wisdom and experiences over the course of a scholar’s college experience. Our mentors often have a college connection (i.e. as instructors, internship providers, lecturers, alumni), and are community minded leaders in their professions.
Mentors can help our scholars to:

  • Settle in to their new communities and into college life
  • Discover their new community, including exciting new service and learning opportunities
  • Make important decisions with regard to their college careers (such as program/course choices)
  • Resolve problems and learn tools to analyze situations effectively
  • Expand their networks of professional and academic contacts on which they can draw during their college education and in the future
  • Plan for their summers and help them complete their summer program proposals

Example scholar – mentor pairs:

2007 Scholar Simon Hirtle, an Aircraft Maintenance Engineering student at the Nova Scotia Community College is mentored by William W. (Bill) Walsh is an aircraft maintenance engineer from Fletcher Lake, NS. Over the course of his career, Bill has owned his own aircraft maintenance businesses and also worked as a flight instructor for 30 years. He is now the Minister Delegate responsible for airplane inspections for the Atlantic region.

Maxime Laliberte, a 2006 scholar from Montreal, completed the Aviation Maintenance program at College Edouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Quebec. His mentor, Guy Gervais, has over 48 years of experience in humanitarian work as a bush pilot in developing countries. Through his work with organizations such as Wings of Hope and Terre sans frontieres/Avions sans frontieres, Guy delivered necessary resources and aid to remote communities around the world. Guy was also the personal pilot for the well-known explorer Jacques Cousteau during his expeditions. Following his graduation from College Edouard-Montpetit, Maxime has embarked upon an exciting experience as a bush pilot with Avions sans frontières.

Katie Richardson is a 2006 Upper Year scholar who graduated from Conestoga College with a Public Relations diploma in the spring of 2007. As a scholar, Katie was actively involved with Conestoga’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, the Kitchener-Waterloo Food Bank, and peer tutoring and orientation at her college. Katie’s mentor, Colleen Fitzpatrick, is the Public Relations Manager for the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo. Katie recently completed a practicum in the Media Relations department at CIGI.

Danielle O’Dea is a 2006 scholar studying Police Foundations at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Danielle volunteers with a number of community groups, including the Children’s Aid Society, Big Sisters, and Stand By Me, an in-school mentoring program. Her mentor, Sherry Jacklin, is a Fanshawe grad and a professor in the Police Foundation / Law and Security programs. She is active in the London community as a volunteer Sergeant for the Auxillary Police Service of London, and has worked as a Fitness Appraiser for both the Ontario Police and the Canadian Armed Forces Recruiting Centre. Sherry has been helping Danielle plan her international summer project for this year, and the two have also partnered to organize fundraising and leadership initiatives within the Police Foundations program.

Carmen Janzen, a 2006 scholar, recently graduated from the Fashion Design program at the University College of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, BC. She has enjoyed her program and has developed a strong interest in Indian design and textiles. Her mentor, Charlotte Kwon, is the founder of the Maiwa Foundation, which supports to traditional artisans and craftspeople in developing nations. Carmen was able to complete her program practicum with the Maiwa Foundation, and Charlotte also advised her as she planned a Garfield Weston Awards-funded project in to India to research Indian textiles and design practices.

For more information:

Priscilla Chen
Program Officer
Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation
(416) 646-2120/ 1-866-544-2673, ext. 230
priscilla.chen@cmsf.ca