The ‘Norm Rippon, Jr. Memorial Bursary’

Norm Rippon, Jr. believed in the value of education. He began his teaching career earlier than most; as the eldest of five children, he began by taking his brothers and sisters to parks, museums and cultural sites even before entering high school. In the summer he showed them how to sail and canoe. It was only natural then that he became a primary school teacher, eventually specializing in helping students with learning challenges overcome those obstacles to education. Norm knew that every child had a strength, an area in which they could shine if only a course could be found and charted with a little guidance and help. After his school board career, he organized a learn-to-sail program in Northern Ontario for disadvantaged youth, some of whom had lived their whole lives on Lake Huron yet had never gone onto its waters. How pleased he would be to know that this bursary, in his name, will help students sail to broader horizons.