The mascots for both Brock University and Thorold Secondary School were on hand Tuesday morning as Brock presented its Niagara Principal's Scholarhips to two students. Pictured between the mascots from left are: Brock President Jack Lightstone, recipients Sasha Vince and Isabel Skeffington, TSS Principal Helena Tritchew and Brock Director of Student Awards and Financial Aid Rico Natale.

They’re some of the brightest young leaders in the region, and they’ll be staying in Niagara for their post-secondary education.

In an effort to see more of Niagara’s top students stay local to continue their education, Brock University is awarding $137,500 in entrance scholarships to graduating high school students with high academic results and strong community leadership.

Brock President Jack Lightstone presented $2,500 scholarships to four of the recipients Tuesday at Thorold Secondary School and Lakeshore Catholic in Port Colborne. They are among 55 recipients of the inaugural Niagara Principal’s Scholarship.

“One of the goals of Brock and the entire region is to keep our best and brightest here rather than see them go away. If we can continue to nurture their capacity for academic excellence and their involvement in the community, at the end of post-secondary they will be all the more likely to stay here,” Lightstone said. “We can’t keep everyone in the region, but we can create a scholarship program that will maximize the chances that someone’s roots here will become deeper and deeper.”

Selected by Thorold Secondary School principal Helena Tritchew were Sasha Vince and Isabel Skeffington. Vince is enrolling in the Biochemistry Co-Op program while Skeffington is taking Biological Sciences.

Both have spent much of their spare time volunteering in the community. Vince is a youth basketball and running coach and serves as an ambassador for her school. Skeffington plays violin for orchestras in Niagara, has served in student leadership programs and spent time helping at local humane societies.

“It’s about investing in our future leaders and getting them to realize there are significant opportunities here in our region,” Trichew said. “In many years past, I think there was the feeling that students had to go outside the region to further their opportunities. There has been a real shift and this is part of that.”

At Lakeshore Catholic Secondary School in Port Colborne, principal Glenn Gifford chose Anna Annibale and Anthony Infurna, both of Fort Erie. Annibale will be taking Tourism Management while Infurna will take the Concurrent Education program.

Annibale volunteers with the Salvation Army and a local elementary school, and takes part in Lakeshore’s annual pilgrimage to raise money for students in Dominica. Infurna has been active in sports as a coach, athlete and referee, and regularly volunteers with school events.

“I love it because we’re keeping kids in Niagara. Brock University has been a huge supporter of Lakeshore Catholic and this is a great thing for the kids,” said Gifford.

The complete list of Principal’s Scholarship recipients will be made available at a later date once the award-winners have confirmed their post-secondary intentions.