Youth Leadership Scholarship

Selection Criteria | Eligibility | Descriptors | Healthy Living Topics

The Youth Leadership Scholarship Program recognizes Grade 12 students who have engaged in meaningful leadership and citizenship volunteer activities during the past year that were targeted at promoting healthy living in their communities and schools.

Two hundred scholarships of $500 each are available to Manitoba grade 12 students. Scholarships may be used to attend post-secondary studies at any recognized Manitoba post-secondary institution.

To apply for a scholarship, simply complete the application form and have your volunteer work verified by the teachers who supervised you or by a persons in charge of the program where you volunteered.

Completed application forms must be submitted by March 27, 2009

Selection Criteria

Application assessment will be based on the following criteria:

• extent to which the student demonstrated good citizenship;

• extent to which the student demonstrated leadership;

• extent to which the volunteer work addressed the goals of healthy living;
  
  
• degree to which the project provided a direct service to the community;
  
  
• impact of the student's work on the school or community, and
  
  
• the number of hours the student volunteered.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be registered in Grade 12, be eligible to graduate and planning to attend a post-secondary institution.
  
  
• Volunteer work must occur between September 1, 2007 and March 27, 2009.
  
  
• Volunteer hours used to obtain a Community Service or other Senior Years credit are not eligible.
  
  
• Volunteer work must be of benefit to others.
  
  
• Volunteer work aimed at raising funds for the benefit of the applicant is not eligible.

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Descriptors

Citizenship: Youth citizenship activities are activities that involve youth in volunteering in their schools and communities by developing good relations with others, working in cooperative ways toward achieving common goals, and by collaborating with others for the well-being of their communities.

Leadership: Youth leadership, in the context of this scholarship, is defined as leading by organizing other groups of youth, or leading by example by being involved in citizenship volunteer activities in their schools and communities.

Healthy Living: Healthy Living is about creating conditions and supporting behaviours that promote the best possible health choices for everyone. By making healthier choices daily and working together to create environments that support health, we can reduce our risk for illness and injury.

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Healthy Living Topics

Active Living:
Physical activity reduces stress, strengthens the heart and lungs, increases energy, and helps us achieve and maintain a healthy body weight--all important factors in living a healthy lifestyle.

Chronic Diseases Prevention:
Chronic diseases represent the major and growing component of health care costs, with estimates that cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer cost the Canadian economy more than $55 billion every year. There are, however, some activities that could help prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease.

Healthy Eating
Eating healthy foods in sensible amounts will improve our overall health and energy levels while contributing to a healthy weight. Not only will this help lower the risk of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, it can improve our sense of well being and self esteem.

Healthy Sexuality:
Sexual health includes a person's physical, emotional and mental health, and evolves over the course of a person's life. Relationships, self-esteem, emotions, gender identity and sexual orientation are some of the many aspects of healthy sexuality.

Injury Prevention:
Injury is the leading cause of childhood hospitalization and death in the province. Unintentional injuries alone cost Manitoba an estimated $819 million every year. The leading causes of injury in Manitoba between 1992 to 1999 included suicide, motor vehicle traffic injuries, falls and fractures, suffocation and choking, and assault.

Mental Health Promotion:
Physical health is about much more than the absence of disease. In the same way, mental wellness is much more than the absence of mental illness. Mental health promotion involves actions to improve the mental well-being of individuals, families, organizations and communities.

Tobacco Reduction:
One of the best ways to ensure a healthy population in the future, is to ensure that youth do not start smoking. Tobacco is the only consumer product that causes disease, disability and death when used exactly as intended.

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Completed application forms must be submitted by March 27, 2009 to:

Youth Leadership Scholarship
MB4Youth Division
310-800 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3G 0N4

For further information contact:

Hugh Sigurdson
Phone: 945-2568 or toll free 1-800-282-8069 ext. 2568
Fax: (204) 945-5726
e-mail: hugh.sigurdson@gov.mb.ca