A “life-changing” scholarship program in memory of a Sarnia judge has been announced for Great Lakes secondary school.
A “life-changing” scholarship program in memory of a Sarnia judge has been announced for Great Lakes secondary school.
In June, Anne McFadyen Scholarships is to start awarding five annual $12,000 scholarships to students graduating from the Sarnia school.
“I think this is life-changing,” said principal Derek Stenton. “We’re just so very excited to have this opportunity.”
The scholarship was announced to students by school officials Friday, and to the community by the Sarnia Community Foundation and the Lambton Kent District school board.
McFadyen was the Lambton Law Association’s first woman president and the first Lambton County lawyer elected to the board of the County and District Law Presidents Association, where she served until named the Ontario Court of Justice bench in 1998.
She retired in 2022, but continued to sit as a part-time judge in the region and died in February 2024.
“Anne was always a big proponent of education,” said her husband, George McFadyen, a retired lawyer who initiated and is funding the scholarships. “I think she realized that it was sort of the key to success for so many students.”
McFadyen said he choose Great Lakes because it’s an amalgamation of the former Sarnia Collegiate, which his parents and uncle attended, and his alma mater, St. Clair secondary school.
“I thought it would be something that would honour her and give the students something that would support them in their post-secondary education,” he said.
McFadyen said the scholarship program is intended to run in perpetuity.
The school was contacted by the foundation just before Christmas and details were finalized in recent weeks, Stenton said.
Stenton said he was “floored” and students were shocked to learn it would award five, $12,000 scholarships a year.
“I think it’s going to take some time for them to really understand just how big a deal this is,” he said.
A $12,000 scholarship could be the deciding factor in whether or a student goes on to college or university, he said.
“If you’re a student in Grade 9 who may face some financial hardship, but now you know here is a goal to work towards, . . . that changes life trajectories early and for the rest of those students’ lives,” Stenton said.
“I wanted to make it meaningful,” McFadyen said. “The cost of post-secondary education is so high.”
They will be the largest scholarships available through the school, and will primarily help pay for tuition, books and residence fees. McFadyen scholars will be selected by a school staff committee based on academic excellence, community service, leadership and financial need.
Stenton said he appreciates the selection process will consider if recipients have given back to the community. “That’s really important to us at Great Lakes.”
He’s from Petrolia where several US$10,000 Nicol Scholarships have been awarded annually since the late 1980s to Lambton Central Collegiate grads.
“This is the next Nicol, in my mind,” Stenton said.
“I’m hoping it will be something that will encourage people to do what they can academically and also be good citizens,” McFadyen said.
“I recognize that a lot of students these days can’t participate in extracurricular activities . . . because financially, they have to work after school,” he said.
McFadyen said Anne, who was 14 when her family moved to Sarnia, worked throughout high school.
“Those are the kinds of people I’m looking to help,” he said.
McFadyen said he appreciated school officials’ reaction to the scholarship.
“Their enthusiasm was wonderful to see,” and he hopes the scholarships become “a point of pride for the school, and for the city as well,” he said.
In addition to her law career, McFadyen volunteered in the community, acted in plays the law association organized to aid local charities, and was a Sarnia Road Runners member and its 1985 runner of the year.
“Anne McFadyen believed in the power of community and importance of education,” said Mike Barron, executive director of the Sarnia Community Foundation. “These scholarships will help perpetuate that belief and inspire others to follow in her footsteps.”
“We know that our students will live up to that legacy and we just so very much appreciate the opportunity to show that to the whole community,” Stenton said.
pmorden@postmedia.com
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