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Late ECU alumnus honoured with Memorial Scholarship

Tuesday, 09 October 2018

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Last month saw a special presentation at our ‘Teaching through the Ages’ event, at which the inaugural winner of the Lincoln McCashney Memorial Scholarship was formally acknowledged.

Third year teaching student, Peta Miliauskas, from ECU in Bunbury was the first recipient of the scholarship and was really excited to receive the news.

“I was at work when I got the call, I was just absolutely ecstatic,” Peta said.

Balancing two jobs with studying full time, Peta was unsure if she would be able to finish her degree as she faced both time and financial pressures.

“Before I received the scholarship I was trying to juggle everything and was worried that I wouldn’t be able to afford it,” she said.

“Now I don’t need to worry - it’s all sorted and that makes a huge difference to my life.”

A long standing teacher and ECU alumnus, Lincoln McCashney sadly passed away in 2015. To honour Lincoln’s memory, family, friends and colleagues developed the scholarship to support and recognise third year Education students.

To encourage the development of the great qualities that made the late Mr McCashney such an outstanding teacher, educator and mentor to many new teachers, the Memorial Scholarship also acknowledges Lincoln's contribution to education in Western Australia.

The criteria for the Lincoln McCashney Memorial Scholarship included:

  • Generosity of Spirit
  • ‘Firm but fair’ approach to student relationships
  • Recognition and respect for the role of family in education
  • Demonstration of humility
  • Championing indigenous students and their education.

Similar to Lincoln, recipient Peta also displays a passion and love for education.

Peta says that throughout all of her schooling she’d always struggled, but there were some teachers who went above and beyond to provide her with additional levels of support and for that she was forever grateful.

“Receiving the Lincoln McCashney Memorial Scholarship means I can do more than just get through the base level of my degree -  I can now go further and do some extra professional development or tutoring to improve myself to become the best possible teacher I can,” Peta said.

“Scholarships have the potential to make a huge difference to any recipient and if you have the means to improve someone else’s situation, then I think that’s a very worthwhile thing to do.”

Lincoln’s wife Kay McCashney, along with beloved mentees Grant and Sharon Grosser, were at the event to personally present Peta with the award. A number of other family, friends and contributors of the scholarship watched on as the inaugural scholarship was presented to a worthy pre-service teacher.

As part of the scholarship, Peta receives $5000 to cover her fees accrued in her final year of study.

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