NHLer Drew Doughty funds $10,000 essay contest for Canadian high school students

Drew Doughty is giving Canadian high school students not only a reason to stay engaged with learning and developing important life skills in these most tumultuous of times, but also a chance to enhance their long-term educational future.

The London, Ont. native and Los Angeles Kings star is working with Scholars Education on an essay contest that will reward one Canadian high student with a $10,000 gift to apply to future learning opportunities.

The contest, which opened Friday and runs until March 31, invites any high school student to write an essay “explaining how they have overcome adversity and explore the connection to a positive response to the world’s current situation.”

Details are available through the Scholars Education website, www.scholarscanada.com.

“All of us are focused, and rightly so, on the front lines of this pandemic,” Peter Dyakowski, the former CFL star who is the chief executive officer of Scholars, said in a telephone interview. “High school students, whose future has suddenly become very uncertain, can benefit from this and stay engaged in these difficult times.”

According to the group, “eligible submissions will be judged by the Scholars Advisory Board, which is made up of Canadian university professors, with the winner chosen by Doughty himself. The $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to a student who shows exemplary writing skills.”

“He’s been very active, especially in London, with not a lot of fanfare,” Dyakowski said of the 30-year-old Doughty. “He’s not in this for himself.”

The group decided to open the contest now to hopefully give high school students, who aren’t able to attend classes because of the COVID-19 pandemic, something to challenge them educationally and provide an outlet for writing skills that may erode the longer they are out of school.

“Drew is used to assisting goals while on the ice, but now he is assisting students to reach their goals in the classroom,” Scholars president Matthew Baxter said in a news release. “First, he won Canada a gold medal at the world junior championships and then goes on to earn two gold medals at the Olympics. Now, he has achieved a hat trick with this incredible act of generosity.”