Full STEAM ahead for Sault teen who earned rare scholarship

The Sault’s Ada Speck is getting ready to enjoy an academic adventure few young people get to experience.

The Grade 11 Korah Collegiate student will be attending a Shad Canada program concentrating on science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) based at Carleton University in Ottawa for the month of July.

Shad Canada — named after a type of fish found in Shad Creek near Aurora, Ontario — is a not-for-profit organization established in the early 1980s and dedicated to enriching the minds of young people in STEAM studies every summer.

1,570 youth will attend this summer’s program that is held on the grounds of 23 universities across Canada. Speck applied to attend this year’s Shad program in January and was notified she would be enrolled in the program at Carleton in March.

Speck is the only Sault applicant to be selected for this year’s Shad Canada program.

For every spot at Shad there are two applicants.

Speck is also one of only 54 young people to be awarded a full $6,850 scholarship to attend.

Her academic success at Korah naturally played a part in her being accepted to attend this year’s program and receiving a full scholarship.

“My marks are pretty good right now,” Speck smiled during an interview with SooToday. “My average is above 90.”

Scientific studies are a perfect match for Speck.

“I would say my favourite subjects are math and biology. I really love science and biology is definitely my main focus. I like how hands-on biology is. They (Shad Canada) looked at my marks. That’s the first thing they looked into but I had to write essays to show that I’m a well-rounded person. My acceptance was related to that and the accomplishments I’ve had along the way.”

Speck has proven she is well rounded and accomplished, having also enjoyed success in athletics.

She is Ojibway and played volleyball for Team Ontario U16 girls at the 2023 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  

“I feel like that really helped me grow. We did really well. We ended up placing fourth overall,” Speck said.

More recently she experienced success as a member of Korah’s curling team, helping her team place third at NOSSA. 

Outside the classroom, she enjoys working as a lifeguard at the Sault YMCA’s swimming pool.

“I love it so much,” Speck said, expressing her relief that the Sault YMCA will be saved thanks to help from the City of Sault Ste. Marie and a yet-to-be-named charitable foundation.

“That was bad. Everyone started applying everywhere else. It was crazy,” Speck said.

“Every day we’ll attend lectures and labs and then at the end of the experience we have to do a presentation on a specific topic,” Speck said in anticipation of her Shad Canada program experience in Ottawa.

The Shad Canada program is designed to help young people decide in which area of science, technology, engineering, art or math they want to pursue a career.

Speck’s mind is already made up. 

“I’m hoping to go into med school. I want to be a surgeon,” she said, intending to study at the University of Ottawa, Western University or the University of Toronto as an undergrad biology student after she graduates from Korah next year.

“I’ve noticed that I’m very good under pressure. If there’s something different every single day, I like that, because everything’s a new challenge,” Speck said, her ability to work under pressure a must for a surgeon.

Speck is the daughter of proud parents Troy and Marnie Speck.

“We’ve relocated about four or five times in Ada’s life. We’ve only been in Sault Ste. Marie for about three years. I’m originally from here but I was away for 17 years, so seeing Ada adapt and come into her own throughout the moves, make new friends and figure out what she wants to do makes me really proud of her. She’s found a community at the YMCA with all the other life guards. I’ve seen her grow in her self confidence and self esteem at the Y,” Marnie said.

“I think it’s going to be great for her,” Troy said of Ada’s upcoming experience in the Shad Canada program.

“For a lot of young students, especially those who come from smaller communities, that whole culture change of going to university can be a bit of a shock so I think this will give Ada some insight for a month about what being a university student is like."