Numerous scholarships and awards are provided by the generous donations of corporations, community organizations and individuals. Awards and scholarships are determined by individual criteria.
NEW !! SIX $1,000 ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIPS!
Click to discover how you can be one of the lucky recipients!
Entrance Scholarship
First Year
Leonard G. Riley Memorial - First Year Theoretical
Awarded to the student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in all first year academic courses. The Alumni Association established this award to recognize Leonard G. Riley NPD ‘40 as the first student in the exchange program arranged from The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England, arriving at the school in the fall of 1939. This program was arranged by the founding Superintendent K. Matt Broman.
Leonard G. Riley Memorial - First Year Practical
Awarded to the student who achieves the highest total marks in the first year practical training program.
Garden Club Of Niagara Award - Floridesign
Awarded to the student who achieves the highest total marks in Floridesign.
Garden Club Of Niagara Award - Tropical Plant I
Awarded to the student who achieves the highest total marks in Tropical Plants.
Garden Club Of Ancaster
Awarded to the first year student who achieves the highest total mark in Greenhouse Floriculture Practical I.
Ontario Hosta Society Award
Awarded to the first year student who achieved the highest combined marks in Plant Identification I & II.
Niagara Regional Orchid Society Award
Awarded to the first year student who best communicates in writing, why they have entered into the field of horticulture and why they want to pursue a career in horticulture.
Niagara Falls Horticultural Society Award
Awarded to the first year student with the highest total combined marks in the first year academic and practical training program.
Second Year
The Mary Cohoe Bursary
Presented to the second year student who achieves the highest combined grade average for first year Plant Collection, the independent study in the General Knowledge Tests, and the second year Vegetable Culture Summer Project.
Leonard G. Riley Memorial - General Proficiency
Awarded to the student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in the second year academic and practical training programs.
Beatrice Catharine Martin Scholarship
The award is shared equally by two second year students who each have the highest combined marks in Greenhouse Environment and Production year two and Tropical Plants year one.
Beatrice Catharine Martin was the wife of the first Superintendent of the School, Knut Mattais Broman. Her friend and companion Mrs. Licia Colautto established this award in her honour. Beatrice had keen interest in the School and The Niagara Parks Commission and in particular greenhouses and tropical plants. So great was this interest that she bequeathed monies to the School for the construction of the new greenhouses for the teaching and growing of plants.
Milne House Garden Club Award
Awarded to the second year student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in Plant Identification I, II, III and IV.
Frank N. Schier Award
Awarded to the second year student who achieves the highest total combined marks in Soils I and Soils II.
Frank Reddon, NPD ‘86 and his sister Lou Anne Osborne initiated this award in honour of their grandfather Frank Schier. He respected and cultivated the land they worked. He knew that the growth and development of the plant material was only as good as the soil it grew in - the soil was the foundation of the harvest they reaped. The Schiers would be very pleased to know that this award was presented to a student who was as passionate about the soil as they were themselves.
G. C. Duke Equipment Award - Turfgrass Management
Awarded to the second year student with the highest marks in Turfgrass Management.
G. C. Duke Equipment Award - Entomology I And Pathology I
Awarded to the second year student who achieves the highest total combined marks in Entomology I and Pathology I.
Garden Club Of Ancaster
Awarded to the second year student who achieves the highest total mark in Greenhouse Floriculture Practical II.
Master Gardeners Of Niagara Award
Awarded to the second year student who achieves the highest mark in the Fruit and Vegetable Culture Course.
Rotary Club Of Grimsby Award
Awarded to the second year student who is within the top 50 percent of the class in the academic and practical program and who has contributed to the students and School in the manner outlined by the Rotary Club motto “service above self”.
The Stratton Award
Awarded to the second year student who demonstrates proficiency and achieves the highest mark in Practical Tree Maintenance.
This award was established by Philip and Barbara Stratton in March of 2001. Philip wrote “We feel very fortunate to live on the Niagara Parkway where The Niagara Parks Commission does such an excellent job in maintaining the natural beauty of the lands along the Niagara River. The presence of the students from The School of Horticulture we have been fortunate enough to engage to date have enhanced our lives as well as our property at Stratton Manor”
Philip passed away in May of that year and his wife Barbara continues to support this award in his memory for the passion he shared for the trees and the natural landscape.
William J. Snowden Award
Awarded to the second year student with the highest combined mark in both the first and second year of the academic and practical program.
Bill Snowden graduated from The Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture in 1958. Ever since, he devoted his life to the learning and teaching of the academic and practical aspects of horticulture. He guided and mentored many students during his tenure as Instructor in 1958, followed by Senior Instructor, until he accepted the position of Coordinator of Horticulture for The Niagara Parks Commission in 1984. In 1986 he returned to his first love - the School of Horticulture as the Superintendent from 1986 until 1991, at which time he was appointed as the Director of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture. He continued his devotion to the development of professional horticulturists until his retirement in 1993.
Always an ambassador of the school and gardens, he was granted a Honourary Life member of the Alumni Association in 1994. A founding member of the Alumni Foundation for 20 years, Bill retired from the board in 2001. In 2003, William J. L. Snowden was appointed as the Honourary President of the Alumni Association. To this day he remains a strong and positive advocate of our program. The Alumni Foundation established this award in 2004 to recognize Bill Snowden’s life-long dedication to the staff and students of the School of Horticulture.
Graduate Awards
Knut Mattais Broman Award
Awarded to the graduating student with the highest total combined marks in the third year academic and practical training programs.
Beatrice Catharine Martin, wife of the first Superintendent of the School, Knut Mattais Broman, established the award in his honour. In November 1990 after his death she wrote: "It was Matt's desire to remember the students of The Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture and it was from the depth of his heart to wish them success in their chosen vocation".
Western Ontario Golf Superintendents Award
Awarded to the graduating student with the highest total combined marks for the third year academic and practical training programs.
The Niagara Parks Commission Award - General Proficiency
Awarded to the graduating student who displayed a willingness to help fellow students and made a significant contribution to the School program while maintaining high overall academic and practical achievement throughout the three year program.
The Niagara Parks Commission Botany Award
Awarded to the graduating student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in the following courses: Botany, Plant Identification I, II, III, IV, V, VI and Plant Propagation.
The Niagara Parks Commission Landscape Design Award
Awarded to the graduating student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in the following courses: Landscape Design I- Drafting, Landscape Design I - Plans, Landscape Design II, Landscape Design III.
James Allan Award
Awarded to the graduating student who achieves the highest total marks in the computer adapted landscape model (DynaSCAPE) semester of the Landscape Design III course.
This award was initiated by Mr. Allan a former Chairman of The Niagara Parks Commission to recognize the students exceptional input into this project.
C. H. Henning Award
Awarded to the graduating student who achieves the highest total cumulative marks in Plant Identification I, II, III, IV, V and VI.
This award was initiated by The Glen Horticulturist's Fraternity in recognition and tribute of the invaluable work, progressive planning, special knowledge and ability which were possessed by Charles H. Henning, the Superintendent of The Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture when this award was instituted in March 1963.
William Holmes Memorial Award
Awarded to the graduating student who achieves the highest total combined marks for Arboriculture I and II.
William Holmes was enrolled in the first class to graduate from The Niagara Parks Commission Training School for Apprentice Gardeners in 1939. He joined the armed forces of Canada in 1940 and gave his life during the Allied Invasion of Normandy. The Alumni Association wished to honor this young man who had a great love for trees and established this award in his memory.
Ontario Parks Association Student Award Of Recognition
Awarded to the graduating student who has shown a commitment to the protection of our parks and the environment and has demonstrated their dedication to horticulture by their respect for green space and our natural heritage. The student has indicated that this is an important component of their career or professional aspirations. Scholastic achievement need not be a criteria.
Graduate Recognition Award
Awarded to the graduating student who has exhibited the greatest amount of personal growth as well as significant improvement and achievement in the academic and practical program over three years.
G. H. Hamilton Travelling Scholarship
Awarded to the graduating student who has an overall final grade average of 75 percent or greater and who has applied in writing prior to graduation to the Executive Secretary of the Alumni Association outlining their intentions and itinerary for travel for the purpose of furthering their education. The scholarship may or may not be awarded to one or more successful recipients in any one year at the discretion of the selection committee, the Alumni Board of Directors. The trip must take place and the Board must receive a written report (which is published in the Horticultural Herald) within 18 months of the student graduating, upon which time the student will be awarded with their scholarship.
Class Of 1982 Fellowship Award
Awarded to the graduating student, as chosen by the student body, who has contributed greatly to school spirit and the general fellowship throughout their stay at The Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture.
Barnsley-Pierce Memorial Scholarship
This award recognizes the third year student who best exemplifies not only a love and respect of horticulture but also a passion to share, through their energetic camaraderie and sense of humour, that love and respect with the community at large.
This award is in memory of Roland H. Barnsley (1921 - 1999), a former Superintendent of The School of Horticulture and John Pierce (1912 - 1999) and their long literary and academic collaboration which above all, celebrated life, friendship and never ending love of learning about the beauty of nature.
Seymour Howard Schott Memorial Award
This award is presented to the third year student with the highest marks in Horticultural Seminars.
The Seymour Howard Schott Memorial Award was established in 2001 after Mr Schott passed away. In his last correspondence to the School in March 2001, he wrote “I do want you to know that I consider the time that I spent at the School of Horticulture to have been the best 3 years of my life. That is why I have not forgotten the School. I can NEVER EVER repay the School of Horticulture for what it has taught me.” Mr Schott graduated in 1955, passed away in April 2001 and this award was bequeathed at his request.
Edward J. Hill Memorial Scholarship
Awarded to the graduating student with the highest combined mark in Arboriculture I and II and in Plant Identification V (deciduous trees) and VI (deciduous tree winter identification)
This scholarship was established by Mr. Bill Dalman in October 2003 in memory of his dear friend Ed Hill. A graduate of The School of Horticulture in 1948 he was later employed by Niagara Parks. He will be fondly remembered for creating many designs of the Floral Clock in addition to creating the “Alumni Crest” - the maple leaf and rose, still used by the Alumni Association today. Mr. Hill passed away at the age of 82 in 2001. He loved Canada’s native trees, his favorite being the native dogwood Cornus florida. So it seems quite appropriate that this scholarship is presented to the graduating student who also shared his passion for trees.
Plant Health Care
Awarded to the graduating student most dedicated to plant health care over 3 years.
THIS INFORMATION IS CURRENT AT THE TIME OF POSTING. MOST SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS ARE LONG-TERM WHEREAS SOME ARE RENEWED EVERY 1 - 5 YEARS.
