Kiah scholarship will be Kwinana sports teacher’s legacy

A new scholarship will commemorate a former Gilmore College teacher after her sudden death last year.

The parents and husband of Kiah Rignall, a sports teacher at the Kwinana school, decided to create the scholarship to memorialise her “kind and generous personality” that many of her students knew and loved.

“With Kiah’s sudden passing, we all felt that we wanted to do something to honour her and her work. It started as an idea and grew rapidly, especially when we were contacted by many of her students, and they told us so many stories of her mentoring and care,” her parents Kevin and Michelle Carthew said.

“She believed that every child deserved a chance at a good education and a profession they loved, regardless of their social or economic situation.”

With the help of the Old Flames Gilmore College Alumni Association, Kiah’s parents and husband Richard were able to get the scholarship up and running, with funds donated through the Kiah Rignall Memorial Scholarship website.

So far, $15,000 has been raised, and Kiah’s family plan to continue raising funds for as long as they can.

Gilmore College principal Dean Gurr said the scholarship would be awarded to a female student in Year 11 or 12 who might be struggling to achieve her ideal pathway in life or to complete her secondary education.

“Students will be nominated by the principal on the basis of identified needs, and a panel will choose the worthy recipient from those nominations. The recipient will be chosen at the start of Term 4,” Mr Gurr said.

Mr and Mrs Carthew said they hoped the scholarship showed how much their daughter loved helping the “underdog”. “We hope that every year, one student will get the opportunity to complete Year 12 and be the best they could be, and know that one exceptional woman called Kiah had helped them along that path,” they said.