From the Royal Bank of Canada:

With tuition continually rising, we know how important scholarships and bursaries are for students who are hoping to pursue their “Someday” of attending college or university.  Last year, we opened up our Black History Month Student Essay Contest to Atlantic Canada, and we had a tremendous response from your schools.  In addition to five Atlantic students being named regional $500 award winners, one of them (Preston Simmons of Auburn Drive High School in Dartmouth) also went on to win the $2500 second prize in the national contest! 

We are now accepting entries for the 2016 contest.  Students are asked to share their thoughts in a 750 word essay on how one or more black Canadians have helped define Canada's diverse heritage and identity through their specific achievements and contributions. In doing so, the students qualify to win one of five $500 scholarships in Atlantic Canada and one of three National grand prizes of up to $5,000.

Atlantic's regional winners will be chosen by a panel of RBC employees and the national winners will be selected by an external panel comprised of African Canadian business and community leaders. There are two Atlantic Canadian representatives on the national panel: award winning author, entrepreneur and women’s leadership coach Eleanor Beaton and author, activist, and the first Black RCMP member in the country to be appointed to the Order of Merit of Police Forces by the Governor General, Sergeant Craig Smith.

Essays must be submitted by December 4, 2015 and winners will be announced in early February in time for 2016 Black History Month.  It would be wonderful to build on last year’s success by increasing the number of entries this year. Who knows, maybe we will have another national winner in our midst!

More information can be found on the attached poster and for complete rules and regulations, visit: http://www.rbc.com/essay/