There are many scholarships created for Sisler CREATE students, in the areas of animation students can apply for the following scholarships:

Upcoming Scholarships:

TOON BOOM ANIMATION EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP

The Toon Boom Excellence in Animation Scholarship of $5,000 has been established by Sisler CREATE to help a deserving and talented an 2D animation student entering post secondary.

APPLY

TOON BOOM STORYBOARDING EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP

The Toon Boom Excellence in Animation Scholarship of $5,000 has been established by Sisler CREATE to help a deserving and talented storyboard artist student entering post secondary.

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Heshka Scholarship for Digital Innovation Scholarships

Heshka Scholarships for Digital Innovation. (formerly known as the Schroeder-VFS Scholarships) These scholarships are provided by The Schroeder Foundation and Vancouver Film School. They are available to students in Sisler CREATE’s post grad program who wish to study animation, game design, 3D or VFX and have been accepted to Vancouver Film School. Each year, the scholarships are subject to availability.

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CAROLE VIVIER SCHOLARSHIP

The Carole Vivier Scholarship for Women in Film was established in honour of Carole Vivier upon her retirement as the CEO & Film Commissioner of Manitoba Film & Music. Carole has been a leader in Manitoba’s creative sector for over 30 years, and was instrumental in making the film and music industries what they are today.

APPLY

FUTURES IN PLAY SCHOLARSHIP

Shape the Future of Play

Applications for the 2023/2024 scholarship cohort are NOW OPEN until June 9, 2023. We look forward to receiving your application! At Spin Master, everyone is welcome in our sandbox. We value differences and are dedicated to building an environment where people feel valued, respected and supported. To support this objective, we are giving students from equity-seeking communities (BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, people with disabilities or women) the opportunity to hone their trade and be a part of the next generation of creators, inventors, designers and entrepreneurs in children’s entertainmen

APPLY

CREATE Program celebrates $677K in scholarships

Sisler’s CREATE Program celebrates 677K in scholarships to Vancouver Film School with friends, family

Sisler High School students stood facing the crowd on three rows of bleachers, whooping and hollering and even fighting back tears as classmates were called up one-by-one. The pretenses of high school and teenage life, the jockeying for social leverage, seemed non-existent in the group, whether buried beneath the jubilation of their mutual accomplishment and acceptance into Vancouver Film School or eroded by hard work, evenly shared. They were the students of Sisler’s CREATE Program, in which students study film, animation, game design, digital media and more.

This was all before the real good news was broken to the students: all 23 students in this year’s scholarship group would share in more than $677,000 worth of scholarships from The Schroeder Foundation, which would cover 90 per cent of each student’s tuition to Vancouver Film School.

The rows of parents in folding chairs in the school’s Taras Korol Theatre applauded their kids and, as soon as the formalities ended, rushed the bleachers to lavish them with congratulations and pride.

Photo by Cody SellarStudents in Sisler’s CREATE Program celebrate lucrative scholarships to the Vancouver Film School.

Everett Dawson was one of the students who received the scholarship and acceptance to the film school.

“I am gobsmacked. I was not expecting any of this. I was so panicked. I was sitting beside people who were also anxious, and we were all just shaking and sweaty,” Dawson said. “I am beyond thrilled.”

Dawson, who a teacher called “the heartbeat of the class” during the ceremony, said figuring out how to pay for post-secondary and maybe move to the west coast to pursue their career goals weighed heavily on him and his classmates.

“To have this wonderful gift — I’m so grateful, and all of us are so grateful,” he said.

He encouraged younger students to join the CREATE Program, and said the program became its own community. His friend, Shaun Murillo, agreed.

“The teachers support us 100 per cent. They’re always there for us, and we have each other. We can tell when someone’s down, and it just feels right to help each other out,” Murillo said. “So having everyone here, it just feels so crazy. Moving together as a unit.”

Paulina Fuentes said it meant a lot to her that she and all her friends were accepted into the film school together.

“Earlier I was shaking, and I was trying to smile,” she said of the time waiting to learn the news. “But we all got accepted, and I’m very thankful for that.”

Student Alex Gulewich was well-aware of the potential burden he’d had lifted from his future: “I can go and get my entire education now without going $30,000 into debt.”

Gulewich’s father, beaming, said: “I’m very proud. He does all the work himself; it’s way over my head.”

The program’s teachers were also basking in their students’ success.

“They’ve worked so hard, and just to see that, and it’s great just to see that they’re given the opportunity to pursue a career and what they love to do,” teacher Bernard Alibudbud said.

Alibudbud said the only downside is they’re forced to leave the city to do so, as Winnipeg lacks an animation or 3D visual effects program, which are focal points of the Sisler program.

The teacher said he felt confident his students were prepared to lift each other up and to make an impact in the industry.

“All these kids genuinely care for each other, and the big thing is they understand how things work. We work with so many industry partners, and we have so many projects and deadlines. So, they’re getting these real-world skills of deadlines and milestones,” Alibudbud said.

The scholarship was recently renamed the Heshka scholarship for digital innovation to honour longtime Sisler principal George Heshka, who died in March of 2021 and to whom one teacher paid tribute while choking back tears: “The program wouldn’t be here without him.”