Ostroh Academy students receive Kopach Scholarships (07/13/97)

Ostroh Academy students receive Kopach Scholarships

by Oksana Zakydalsky

TORONTO - Approximately 15 months ago, a scholarship fund in honor of Dr. Oleksandra Kopach was established and the first scholarships from this fund have been awarded to Ostroh Academy students in Ukraine.

Last year, on April 27, 1996, former students of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda Ukrainian School in Toronto held a dinner in honor of Dr. Oleksandra Kopach, a pioneer in the field of Ukrainian secondary education in Canada. Organized by Dr. Kopach in 1951, the Skovoroda Ukrainian School in Toronto, a five-year secondary school, was the first of its kind in Canada. In addition to former students, the dinner's sponsors included the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Writers' Association Slovo, Ukrainian Writers for Children and the Ukrainian Canadian School Board - all organizations in which Dr. Kopach has been active.

Although, it has been almost 20 years since Dr. Kopach retired from teaching, and the Skovoroda School closed in 1978, more than 250 former students showed up at the dinner to honor their former director and teacher and letters and greetings were received from around the world. That evening the Dr. Oleksandra Kopach Scholarship Fund received its first donation.

On the recommendation of the rector of Ostroh Academy, Prof. Ihor Pasichnyk, the money donated from the fund was divided into $100 scholarships. The recipients were chosen by a special committee which included Bohdan Kolos from Toronto as the representative of the Dr. Oleksandra Kopach Scholarship Committee. Sixteen recipients were awarded the scholarships at a special ceremony on January 28, in Ukraine. The recipients of the scholarships were: Hryhoriy Oliynyk, Ihor Pokhleba, Serhiy Hlynianchuk (department of history); Eduard Balashov, Serhiy Onoshko, Natalia Hrynevych, Halyna Tkachuk, Tetiana Brui (department of economics); Natalia Vetvinska, Oksana Brydko, Roman Tereshchuk, Iryna Krasnovska, Olha Barylko, Tetiana Tovshchuk, Natalia Kibita, Iryna Ostrovska.

Located in the ancient town of Ostroh in Rivne Oblast, the Ostroh Higher Collegium was created in 1994, and renamed the Ostroh Academy in 1996, as the successor of the Ostroh Academy founded 420 years ago by Prince Konstantyn Ostrozsky. Its working languages are Ukrainian and English and it attracts students from all of Ukraine. It is an affiliate of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

The Dr. Oleksandra Kopach Scholarship Committee (Tania Onyschuk, Marika Hurko and Taras Zakydalsky) hopes to provide scholarships to Ostroh students on an annual basis and invites former students and friends of Dr. Kopach to send their donations to: Dr. Oleksandra Kopach Scholarship Fund, 505 Annette Street, Toronto, ON M6P 1S1 Canada.

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