The contributions of a retired teacher and principal to the Springboard to Success scholarship fund were acknowledged on Tuesday night.
John Stevens, who was a member of the program's scholarship committee for more than 10 years, was presented with a plaque by trustee Roxanne Ricard during the monthly school board meeting.
Ricard said Stevens was instrumental in getting the program up and running when he became a director for the Prince George Community Foundation after he retired in 1996.
"John's interest in this project resulted from his recognition that schooling beyond Grade 12 has become absolutely essential," Ricard said. "He also recognized that the cost of post-secondary education prohibited many students from pursuing further education and training."
Originally known as the Millennium scholarship fund, Springboard to Success went through a change in 2005 when Stevens helped rename the initiative.
"John led the committee's discussion that recognized that students need a lift or launch into their post-secondary studies," Ricard said.
Stevens said he and long-time school board trustee Bev Christensen came up with the idea of a scholarship fund, which has now grown to $305,000, with $7,000 of that raised during the Springboard to Success golf tournament, which drew 150 players on Saturday.
"I can't believe that it now consists of [more than] $300,000 for the endowment which goes to these awards," Stevens said.
"The model we were following was the one in Abbotsford where they had built of up a fund of $500,000. We thought we had no way of reaching that but thought we'll start small and see how far we get."
Stevens came to Prince George in 1963 and started his career as the Grades 4 to 7 teacher and principal at Reid Lake School. He was also a teacher-principal at Fraserview elementary school, a principal trainee at Quinson elementary, a principal at Blackburn elementary and was the first principal at College Heights elementary.
After two years as the school district's personnel co-ordinator, Stevens served as an assistant superintendent for 16 years before retiring.
Graduates in six secondary schools will receive a total of 10 awards supported by the fund, adding up to $12,000. The Prince of Wales scholarship is worth $3,000 and the others are worth $1,000.
They include the Don Thorlakson memorial award, the Gairett MacIver memorial busary, the A.L. Ford scholarship and six Springboard to Success scholarships.
