It’s been a challenging year for student athletes in Chatham-Kent with high school sports sidelined because of the pandemic.
The Dr. Jack Parry Awards are still being handed out to help the top student athletes in the municipality transition to the next phase of their schooling.
Normally, two winners are chosen out of the 10 Chatham-Kent High Schools. This year, all of the nominees, 14 students from 8 schools, are receiving a $500 scholarship.
Dr. Jack Parry’s daughter, Jan Parry Wicket, says this has been such a difficult year, but the nominees all made the most of it.
“These kids are all heroes (for) what they have accomplished, you really have to have been self-driven over this past year,” Parry Wicket says. “They’re wonderful kids to have accomplished what they have and what they continue to strive for.”
The scholarships this year are a team effort, with support from the Parry family, TekSavvy Solutions, and Kim and Robb Nelson.
“What all these kids have had to go through over the last year and a half, what an achievement,” Nelson says. “All their hard work and uniqueness. They deserve it.”
This year’s winners:
Chatham Christian High School – Kyra Vellinga and Braden Hoogstad
CKSS – Emma Pegg and Logan Smith
JMSS – Kerrigan Jacques and Eli Jobin
LKCS – Kaitlin Nevills and Jonny Vanek}
RDHS – Mya Duffy
TDSS – Lisa Friesen
UCC – Jenessa Blomme and Clarke Denomy
WDSS – Megan Berkvens and Cody Johnston
There were no nominees submitted from BDHS or ESPC this year.
