Blake Ellis/The Independent

Five LCCVI students have been named as the 2025 Nicol scholars.

Sisters Brooklyn and Julianna Brown, Hannah Daniel, Ashley Sanderson and Ryan Shaw were all honoured at a ceremony Thursday in advance of the graduation ceremony Thursday evening.

The Nicol Scholarship is awarded to the top academic students who participate in community and school life by a panel of judges which includes local ministers, politicians and school representatives.

It was established by Harold Nicol who went to LCCVI in 1914, before entering the military to join the troops in the First World War when he was just 14. When he returned, he took a college business course and worked with Western Electric which later became AT&T in Chicago.

Nicol had amassed a fortune of over $2 million. Without a family, he decided to set up the scholarship fund for LCCVI in his mother’s name. Each student receives $10,000 US to help fund their post secondary education. A total of 421 scholarships have been awarded it since its inception in 1987.

Among the scholarship recipients was Ashley Sanderson, who will be attending the University of Ottawa to in the Bachelor of Social Sciences in the fall. Sanderson hopes to attend teachers’ college
with the goal of becoming a high school teacher.

Hannah Daniel will be attending Ottawa’s Carleton University where she will be studying aerospace engineering, saying she could see herself working for NASA one day.

Julianna Brown will be taking a Bachelor of Science degree at Western University in London, then hopes to go on to teachers’ college. Brooklyn Brown will also be going to Western University to take a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her goal is to become a high school teacher after completing teachers’ college.

Ryan Shaw will be attending Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo where he will be taking a double degree in music and history. Shaw hopes to go on and taking a Masters and PhD in conducting. He hopes to eventually start youth ensembles so more kids can get involved in music.

For Shaw and Sanderson, there is a history of the Nicol scholarship in their family. Sanderson’s mother, Monica (McLean) Sanderson was awarded the scholarship in 1998 while Shaw’s father, Kevin Shaw, being awarded it in 1992.