GORE BAY—Manitoulin Secondary School student Alexandra Wilson-Zegil is one of a select few high school students in Canada to be chosen to receive a $70,000 TD Scholarship for Community Leadership.
“Oh yeah, I’m excited. It’s insane,” stated Alexandra told The Expositor last week. “I was reading an email in English class, which I know I shouldn’t have been doing, when I got the message from TD congratulating me on winning one of the scholarships.”
“My teacher was talking to another student in the class when I got the message from TD, and I interrupted and told Ms. (Yana) Bauer that we needed to talk in the hall,” said Alexandra. “I showed her the message from TD and she got really excited as well and told me to run and tell my dad. So, I ran to the class my dad (Mike) was teaching and ended up interrupting his class as well.”
Ms. Bauer was one of the references Alexandra gave in applying for the scholarship award.
Alexandra, this newspaper’s Kids in the Hall columnist, explained she had completed an application for the TD Scholarship award, which she completed last fall. “In the application we have to outline our community leadership efforts, extra-curricular activities, work experience and volunteer work as well.”
“As part of the process I had to write a 600-word essay about how I got started in community leadership,” said Alexandra.
“My journey in community leadership started with a robot in 2021,” she wrote. “The area I live in, characterized by its blue waters and rolling forests, is an Island to the rest of the world. Literally, Manitoulin Island can only be accessed by bridge or boat and is two hours away from the nearest urban centre. With this Northern Ontario landscape, activities like hunting, fishing, and hockey come in abundance. When I entered high school, I knew which week deer season was, how to slapshot (in hockey), and the type of fish in our waters, but if you asked me what the acronym “STEM” meant, I couldn’t tell you.”
“When I joined my school’s robotics team, I realized the discrepancy in my earlier education,” she continued. “As I travelled to cities for competitions, I saw elementary schools with thriving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math extracurriculars. What made STEM so prevalent in cities that rural areas didn’t have? It came down to exposure and resources.”
“Upon returning home, I knew that I needed to give rural Manitoulin Island youth the same exposure to STEM as their peers in Southern Ontario. With my team, I organized annual visits to six island elementary schools across 171 kilometres. Over the next few years, I would speak to hundreds of students, sharing my love for STEM with interactive coding workshops, LEGO engineering stations, and presentations with my team’s robot. After these visits, I would receive messages from parents explaining that their kids had come home from school and built their own robots out of paper towel rolls and construction paper. Knowing I had helped build a bridge between the world of STEM and the kids on my island filled me with pride, so I kept pushing towards my goal of equity: STEM exposure for rural youth.”
Alexandra said, “My deviance from the typical interests in my area was my passion for writing. Throughout my life, I wielded my ability to weave stories like a superpower. Through robotics, I found a direction for this interest. I recognized a need during the elementary school visits: literacy skills are essential for understanding STEM. So, I began to write a children’s book featuring robots protecting the environment, called ‘Robofriends and the Mowzone.’ After the books was published, I used it as a tool for my leadership. Book in hand, I visited classrooms in grades K-3, reading to them about robotics and environmental stewardship, combining their knowledge of the nature around them with the more foreign ideas of STEM.”
“Seeing my books displayed in local businesses and libraries was incredibly rewarding,” she wrote. “The book’s success extended beyond the island, with over 200 copies sold worldwide. After being sent pictures of robot drawing from kids inspired by my book, I wrote another one, which is currently undergoing the publishing process.”
Alexandra explained, “With young students now excited about STEM, they needed consistent opportunities to get involved. I began to push for more STEM resources. This advocacy led to securing support for various initiatives. One significant outcome was the establishment of a pay-what-you-can coding summer camp and a 12-week FIRST LEGO League program.”
“What started with a robot has now turned into an initiative spanning all 15,000 square kilometres of Manitoulin Island. Now, Manitoulin youth do not need to go beyond the Island’s bridge to access STEM, they can find it here with their other hobbies. Looking to the future, when rural students enter high school, they can proudly say they can stick-handle, use a fishing rod and code a robot. Similarly, as I’m leaving high school, I can say I can skate, catch a fish, and lead a movement.”
To be eligible for a TD Scholarship for Community Leadership in Canada, you need to be in your final year of high school. Applicants must show a commitment to making a positive difference in your community. Those who are selected for a TD Scholarship for Community Leadership can be selected to receive at up to $70,000 over four years toward a post-secondary college or university education. The scholarship program is open to students leaders with an average of 75 percent in class and are helping to support positive change in their communities.
The TD Scholarship for Community Leadership is available to students who are helping to support change, nurture progress, and contribute to making the world a better place, in their communities. “We’re interested in hearing from students who have demonstrated consistent and outstanding dedication to helping improve the world by solving a social or community problem.”
Up to 80 finalists are interviewed through five regional selection panels. From there, at least two scholarship recipients are chosen from each of the following five regions: Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies/Northwest Territories/Nunavut, British Columbia/Yukon.
“Since 1995, TD has awarded millions in TD scholarships for Community Leadership to recognize students who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to community leadership. TD Scholarships for Community Leadership recipients receive up to $70,000 for tuition and living expenses as well as opportunities for paid summer employment, peer networking and mentorship. Supporting young community leaders is one way TD is helping build a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow,” the TD website notes.
Alexandra indicated she will receive up to $10,000 each year for tuition for a maximum of four years, and $7,500 each year for living expenses. Up to 20 scholarships are available annually.
As for university, “I will attending Wilson College for Civic Studies and Leadership (a new program at McMaster University),” she said. “I will be a student in the original class, as they only take 40 students a year.”
“I’m still trying to decide what I want to do in the future. I am thinking law school, maybe working in government,” said Alexandra. She attended an award ceremony this past weekend to receive her scholarship award.
