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Matthew Halton graduate earns Dr. Lloyd Cavers Scholarship

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Zack Renschler, a local student who graduated from Matthew Halton School this year, was named Livingstone Range School Division’s 2020 recipient of the Dr. Lloyd Cavers Scholarship.

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Nominated by Matthew Halton faculty, Renschler is the first Pincher Creek student to earn the scholarship in eight years, and broke J.T. Foster High School in Nanton’s 5-year streak of earning the scholarship.

Renschler said he didn’t fully expect to earn the $1,000 scholarship, but it honoured him to be the recipient.

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“It was pretty exciting for the school to recognize me out of all of my classmates, and the potential to go up against everybody in Livingstone Range School Division seemed like quite a huge honour,” said Renschler.

“It was really cool—I’ve always had a pretty good relationship with most of my teachers, so it was expected but unexpected at the same time,” he said.

“(Matthew Halton Principal Tara Tanner) said I was the first win from Matthew Halton in about eight years, so it’s pretty awesome,” he said

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Renschler said he’s planning on attending university in Ottawa.

His first semester will be online, but in January he expects to be travelling out there to attend in person.

“I’ve been accepted into aerospace engineering at Carlton University,” said Renschler.

“That’s always been my favourite subject in school—physics and math. I’ve always been interested in space, so that kind of just seemed like a perfect fit,” he said.

“It’s going to be five years, because I’m doing a co-op program. There’s going to be some real life work experience in between working at an engineering firm, which should be pretty exciting.”

Besides the Dr. Lloyd Cavers Scholarship, Renschler also earned an entrance scholarship from Carlton University, worth about $3,000 per year, and a scholarship from the Lion’s Club worth another $1,000.

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Renschler said he expects the scholarships to help out when he starts his post-secondary education.

“It looks like it’s going to work out to where I almost have my first semester paid for. That recurring entrance scholarship will also help reduce those school fees quite a bit,” said Renschler.

He said a career in developing space flight systems is his ultimate goal.

“I’ve always wanted to work at NASA in the (United States), specifically at the jet propulsion laboratory in California,” said Renschler.

“I just found out about this new company called Rocket Lab, and they’re based in New Zealand, which I think would be kind of neat,” he said.

Renschler said the Pincher Creek lifestyle helped him with his success so far, and his time with the Trail Breakers also inspired him.

“Pincher Creek has been really good for me—a small town where I can really develop the volunteer side of my work with the Trail Breakers,” he said.

“Being able to have those experiences that you might not be able to get in a bigger city has been really cool. It’s been a really good experience.”

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