Hanna: 2010 IDTANA Scholarship Winner!

We are very pleased to announce that Hanna S has been notified by IDTANA today that she is a winner of one of the 2010 IDTANA Scholarships! The Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America generously awards a total of $20,000 in annual scholarships to dancers from across North America who excel in academics, leadership activities, school and community service, and dance.

This year there were 193 applicants from across North America. For the first time, the IDTANA Scholarship Committee completed a "first round" of judging based on academic marks only, which whittled the applicants down to 78 semi-finalists. The semi-finalists then had to submit extensive additional documentation, including...
- a list of all their school and community activities, emphasizing positions of leadership;
- a list of all their volunteer work in the community and at school;
- a list of all their dance activities and accomplishments;
- an updated academic transcript;
- reference letters from their TCRG and school/university teachers;
- a personal essay.

From this group of semi-finalists, only 26 have been selected as scholarship recipients; 4 current university students and 22 Grade 12 students. Hanna is the only Western Canadian 2010 scholarship recipient, and one of only two from all of Canada! (Last year there was also only one Western Canadian winner: Michael Y!) Awards range from $500 to $2000; Hanna has won a $750 scholarship.

A bit about what made Hanna's application stand out to the IDTANA Scholarship Committee:

She has just completed her first year at UBC, where she plans to major in History. She graduated from Prince of Wales Mini School in June 2009 with an entrance average of 95%, and continued her academic success at UBC, recently completing her first year of full-time studies with an "A" average.

She was honoured with numerous awards and scholarships at her graduation last year, including the Vancouver Rotary Club Scholarship, the Vancouver School District Modern Languages Scholarship, and the Ken Annandale Scholarship. UBC offered her both a President's Entrance Scholarship (for her Grade 12 average above 95%) and a Major Entrance Scholarship (for her combination of academic excellence, leadership activities, school and community volunteer service, and involvement in the arts).

Hanna has had years of extensive involvement in her school and community, serving on numerous committees and volunteering for several programs. She was selected to represent her school at events such as the Canadian High School Model UN Conference and the Encounters With Canada "War and Remembrance" program in Ottawa. She is a 3-time City of Richmond "U-ROC" award winner for her volunteer service, and was a youth nominee for the 2008 Ethel Tibbits Women of Distinction awards in Richmond.

Hanna's passion for history is long-standing, and in Grade 7 she won 1st place in the Vancouver Historica Fair and represented Vancouver at the National Historica Fair in Montreal. In Grade 11 she won an international history scholarship through the Vimy Foundation; a 2-week trip to France, Britain and Belgium to travel and study WWI/WWII battlefields, war cemeteries and museums.

As for her dance involvement, she began with Nora 12 years ago at age 6, progressing quickly to Preliminary Championships and moving into Open Championships at age 15. She taught NPIDA Beginner dance classes for 4 years and has been a longtime member and team leader of Eire Born, where she has had many wonderful opportunities such as performing multiple times with fiddler Natalie MacMaster, travelling to EXPO 2002 in Switzerland at age 10; and performing 2 times in New York City with other senior Eire Born dancers and Coco.

Congratulations Hanna: NPIDA is very proud of you!