THE FATHER TED COLLETON SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The scholarship was designed to attract senior high school students to thinking about the culture of death, and its awful manifestation in the practice of abortion. Since that first year, more than 1100 students have taken up the challenge of entering the competition.
Niagara Region Right to Life (NRRTL) is the sponsoring organization of the program, providing the prize money and other incidental expenses associated with running the scholarship contest.
The Interim is a promoter and collaborator publishing the essays of the three prize winners annually. As is stated in the scholarship brochure distributed to schools across Canada, “Niagara Region Right to Life (NRRTL) wishes to help educate and inform the younger generations about the preciousness and possibilities of human life from conception to natural death. It encourages students to engage critically and meaningfully with key public issues that may impact on human life especially in its early stages”.
It is always hoped that the choice of theme for the essay component prompts candidates to think about public issues from a moral perspective.
Another Successful Father Ted Colleton Scholarship Concludes
The 2025-2026 edition of the Father Ted Colleton Scholarship concluded on December 12 of 2025. Sponsored by Niagara Region Right to Life (NRRTL), this year’s scholarship program had 49 participants from across Canada, including the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Sakatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
In keeping with NRRTL’s mandate to advance educational knowledge on contemporary life and family issues, the essay writing component read as follows:
Contrary to popular belief, it appears that there is a demographic deficit developing on our earth, and in this regard Canada’s own situation is precarious. Discuss the validity of the statement. If valid, what has caused this state of affairs? What corrective actions can be/should be taken to avoid the inevitable catastrophic consequences?
1ST PRIZE
Sarah Marie Scale
Arthur Voaden Secondary School,
St. Thomas, Ontario
2ND PRIZE
Emily Lane
Catholic Central High School,
Lethbridge, Alberta
3RD PRIZE
Logan Polinsky-Palmer
St. Anne Catholic High School,
Belle River, Ontario
We are proud to present the response essays of our prize winners in this special issue of The Interim. The Board of Directors of NRRTL extend their gratitude to all candidates for meeting the challenging writing task and to the volunteer markers who evaluated their writing efforts.
The winner’s essays were featured in the February 2026 issue of The Interim on pages 13, 14 and 15. You can access the issue here.
Please support this important educational initiative. Donate to Niagara Region Right to Life and you will receive a charitable tax receipt. You can do so online at niagararegionrighttolife.ca/donate/ or by remitting to them at 157 Catharine Street North, 2nd Floor, Hamilton Ontario, L8L 4S4.
You would be making a wonderful investment, sowing pro-life seeds. The future harvest of good works and good moral thinking will be great in the coming years.